Phelps County, Nebraska: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+68%. Republican peak: R+70 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+68MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 9,0092024 5-year
- Median household income
- $68,9192024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+33 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+70 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Holt County, NE · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Phelps CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Phelps 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 | +32.7% |
| 1896 | +8.0% |
| 1900 | −9.9% |
| 1904 | −58.4% |
| 1908 | −7.3% |
| 1912 | +29.9% |
| 1916 | +18.1% |
| 1920 | −30.8% |
| 1924 | −23.7% |
| 1928 | −55.8% |
| 1932 | +20.1% |
| 1936 | +15.7% |
| 1940 | −15.3% |
| 1944 | −25.8% |
| 1948 | −15.7% |
| 1952 | −56.0% |
| 1956 | −45.5% |
| 1960 | −50.4% |
| 1964 | −6.2% |
| 1968 | −53.0% |
| 1972 | −64.1% |
| 1976 | −45.3% |
| 1980 | −61.4% |
| 1984 | −66.7% |
| 1988 | −51.7% |
| 1992 | −39.2% |
| 1996 | −42.5% |
| 2000 | −57.1% |
| 2004 | −64.1% |
| 2008 | −51.6% |
| 2012 | −57.5% |
| 2016 | −69.8% |
| 2020 | −67.8% |
| 2024 | −68.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 758 | 4,158 | 4,986 | ||
| R | 752 | 4,157 | 5,021 | ||
| R | 572 | 3,849 | 4,695 | ||
| R | 880 | 3,400 | 4,380 | ||
| R | 1,050 | 3,360 | 4,473 | ||
| R | 830 | 3,872 | 4,743 | ||
| R | 934 | 3,575 | 4,627 | ||
| R | 1,071 | 3,015 | 4,578 | ||
| R | 830 | 2,752 | 4,903 | ||
| R | 1,047 | 3,316 | 4,387 | ||
| R | 740 | 3,741 | 4,501 | ||
| R | 734 | 3,465 | 4,445 | ||
| R | 1,168 | 3,210 | 4,509 | ||
| R | 735 | 3,356 | 4,091 | ||
| R | 825 | 2,976 | 4,055 | ||
| R | 2,153 | 2,440 | 4,593 | ||
| R | 1,252 | 3,795 | 5,047 | ||
| R | 1,313 | 3,502 | 4,815 | ||
| R | 1,079 | 3,822 | 4,901 | ||
| R | 1,815 | 2,489 | 4,304 | ||
| R | 1,451 | 2,460 | 3,911 | ||
| R | 1,847 | 2,512 | 4,359 | ||
| D | 2,587 | 1,884 | 4,490 | ||
| D | 2,589 | 1,709 | 4,372 | ||
| R | 927 | 3,297 | 4,251 | ||
| R | 993 | 1,928 | 3,944 | ||
| R | 1,169 | 2,324 | 3,754 | ||
| D | 1,425 | 971 | 2,515 | ||
| O | 972 | 254 | 2,405 | ||
| R | 1,238 | 1,445 | 2,828 | ||
| R | 219 | 1,567 | 2,309 | ||
| R | 979 | 1,202 | 2,257 | ||
| D | 1,147 | 973 | 2,178 | ||
| O | 768 | 96 | 2,054 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
33.7%
English
10.8%
Irish
9.9%
American
3.1%
French
2.9%
Polish
1.7%
Scottish
1.0%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 41.4 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
$68,919
Phelps County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Phelps County$68,919
Nebraska$76,475
United States$80,734
Phelps 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
12.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.2%
Working age (18–64)13.1%
Seniors (65+)5.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.7%
speak English only
Spanish3.7%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Phelps County, anchored by the small city of Holdrege, returned a Republican presidential margin exceeding 68 points in 2024, reflecting the deep-red lean common across Nebraska's rural agricultural heartland.
The Republican margin here reached seventy points in 2016. The 2024 margin was sixty-eight points.
A population of 9,009, a 90% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $68,919 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Holt County and Hamilton 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.
Phelps County, Nebraska. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/31137/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Phelps County, Nebraska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Phelps County, Nebraska voted Republican by 68.2 points (R+68), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 4,986 votes cast, 758 went Democratic and 4,158 went Republican.
What is Phelps County, Nebraska's political typology?
Akashic places Phelps 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 4 times, Republican 28 times, and other 2 times.
When did Phelps County, Nebraska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Phelps County, Nebraska voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Phelps County, Nebraska?
Phelps County, Nebraska has a population of 9,009 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Phelps County, Nebraska?
Median household income in Phelps County, Nebraska is $68,919 — below the national median of $80,734. The Nebraska state median is $76,475.
What is the political history of Phelps County, Nebraska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Phelps County, Nebraska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 4 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.