Harlan County, Nebraska: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+68%. Republican peak: R+69 in 2020.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+68MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 2,8472024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,6252024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+31 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+69 in 2020MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Boyd County, NE · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Harlan CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Harlan County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | +30.3% |
| 1896 | +15.4% |
| 1900 | +4.9% |
| 1904 | −43.1% |
| 1908 | +3.2% |
| 1912 | +28.8% |
| 1916 | +19.5% |
| 1920 | −26.5% |
| 1924 | −17.1% |
| 1928 | −42.7% |
| 1932 | +31.3% |
| 1936 | +10.3% |
| 1940 | −23.5% |
| 1944 | −32.9% |
| 1948 | −10.0% |
| 1952 | −51.8% |
| 1956 | −37.1% |
| 1960 | −32.8% |
| 1964 | −3.6% |
| 1968 | −37.4% |
| 1972 | −48.4% |
| 1976 | −19.8% |
| 1980 | −52.0% |
| 1984 | −54.4% |
| 1988 | −31.5% |
| 1992 | −23.8% |
| 1996 | −32.3% |
| 2000 | −49.7% |
| 2004 | −56.4% |
| 2008 | −52.5% |
| 2012 | −58.5% |
| 2016 | −67.8% |
| 2020 | −68.9% |
| 2024 | −67.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 280 | 1,506 | 1,805 | ||
| R | 282 | 1,615 | 1,934 | ||
| R | 254 | 1,496 | 1,832 | ||
| R | 354 | 1,395 | 1,778 | ||
| R | 402 | 1,329 | 1,766 | ||
| R | 398 | 1,467 | 1,897 | ||
| R | 438 | 1,358 | 1,852 | ||
| R | 520 | 1,120 | 1,858 | ||
| R | 488 | 992 | 2,116 | ||
| R | 725 | 1,403 | 2,154 | ||
| R | 493 | 1,692 | 2,203 | ||
| R | 486 | 1,690 | 2,317 | ||
| R | 879 | 1,325 | 2,255 | ||
| R | 539 | 1,549 | 2,088 | ||
| R | 579 | 1,392 | 2,174 | ||
| R | 1,195 | 1,283 | 2,478 | ||
| R | 893 | 1,766 | 2,659 | ||
| R | 848 | 1,850 | 2,698 | ||
| R | 730 | 2,300 | 3,030 | ||
| R | 1,220 | 1,490 | 2,710 | ||
| R | 1,006 | 1,991 | 2,997 | ||
| R | 1,353 | 2,182 | 3,535 | ||
| D | 2,084 | 1,692 | 3,814 | ||
| D | 2,486 | 1,272 | 3,879 | ||
| R | 1,055 | 2,702 | 3,861 | ||
| R | 1,216 | 1,845 | 3,689 | ||
| R | 974 | 1,756 | 2,947 | ||
| D | 1,267 | 834 | 2,225 | ||
| D | 918 | 325 | 2,059 | ||
| D | 1,158 | 1,081 | 2,403 | ||
| R | 299 | 1,178 | 2,039 | ||
| D | 977 | 880 | 1,967 | ||
| D | 1,151 | 836 | 2,050 | ||
| O | 568 | 101 | 1,540 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
39.7%
English
13.3%
Irish
6.6%
American
2.5%
French
1.6%
Scottish
1.6%
Polish
1.2%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 47.3 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$70,625
Harlan County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Harlan County$70,625
Nebraska$76,475
United States$80,734
Harlan County ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
6.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 182.8%
Working age (18–64)7.5%
Seniors (65+)9.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.7%
speak English only
Spanish1.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.2%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Harlan County, anchored by the reservoir bearing its name in south-central Nebraska, recorded an R+68 presidential margin in 2024, placing it among the state's most one-sided rural counties. Its shrinking, agriculture-dependent population has trended heavily Republican for decades.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-nine points in 2020. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-eight points.
A population of 2,847, a 95% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $70,625 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Boyd County and Morrill County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Harlan County, Nebraska. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/31083/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Harlan County, Nebraska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Harlan County, Nebraska voted Republican by 67.9 points (R+68), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,805 votes cast, 280 went Democratic and 1,506 went Republican.
What is Harlan County, Nebraska's political typology?
Akashic places Harlan County, Nebraska in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 7 times, Republican 26 times, and other 1 times.
When did Harlan County, Nebraska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Harlan County, Nebraska voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Harlan County, Nebraska?
Harlan County, Nebraska has a population of 2,847 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Harlan County, Nebraska?
Median household income in Harlan County, Nebraska is $70,625 — below the national median of $80,734. The Nebraska state median is $76,475.
What is the political history of Harlan County, Nebraska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Harlan County, Nebraska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.