Wayne County, Nebraska: Industrial Catholic Metro county. In 2024, voted R+49%. Republican peak: R+59 in 1952.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+49MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Industrial Catholic MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 9,8442024 5-year
- Median household income
- $66,2152024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+28 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 1952MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Cuming County, NE · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Wayne CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Wayne 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 | +26.2% |
| 1896 | +5.4% |
| 1900 | −13.3% |
| 1904 | −42.5% |
| 1908 | −10.1% |
| 1912 | +9.6% |
| 1916 | −8.9% |
| 1920 | −52.5% |
| 1924 | −30.4% |
| 1928 | −30.8% |
| 1932 | +27.8% |
| 1936 | +3.8% |
| 1940 | −39.4% |
| 1944 | −47.7% |
| 1948 | −33.5% |
| 1952 | −58.8% |
| 1956 | −45.4% |
| 1960 | −52.3% |
| 1964 | −18.3% |
| 1968 | −50.4% |
| 1972 | −49.3% |
| 1976 | −38.6% |
| 1980 | −53.8% |
| 1984 | −57.0% |
| 1988 | −37.7% |
| 1992 | −29.3% |
| 1996 | −30.0% |
| 2000 | −45.0% |
| 2004 | −46.8% |
| 2008 | −32.9% |
| 2012 | −38.5% |
| 2016 | −49.2% |
| 2020 | −48.4% |
| 2024 | −48.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,006 | 3,011 | 4,106 | ||
| R | 1,022 | 3,055 | 4,200 | ||
| R | 835 | 2,693 | 3,776 | ||
| R | 1,074 | 2,493 | 3,682 | ||
| R | 1,249 | 2,503 | 3,808 | ||
| R | 1,059 | 2,971 | 4,085 | ||
| R | 1,001 | 2,774 | 3,940 | ||
| R | 1,048 | 2,150 | 3,676 | ||
| R | 921 | 2,122 | 4,102 | ||
| R | 1,111 | 2,473 | 3,614 | ||
| R | 833 | 3,075 | 3,936 | ||
| R | 733 | 2,844 | 3,921 | ||
| R | 1,089 | 2,521 | 3,708 | ||
| R | 902 | 2,659 | 3,561 | ||
| R | 786 | 2,582 | 3,560 | ||
| R | 1,630 | 2,359 | 3,989 | ||
| R | 1,025 | 3,274 | 4,299 | ||
| R | 1,143 | 3,040 | 4,183 | ||
| R | 866 | 3,338 | 4,204 | ||
| R | 1,158 | 2,323 | 3,481 | ||
| R | 1,021 | 2,886 | 3,907 | ||
| R | 1,395 | 3,209 | 4,604 | ||
| D | 2,322 | 2,149 | 4,547 | ||
| D | 2,608 | 1,455 | 4,154 | ||
| R | 1,235 | 2,354 | 3,628 | ||
| R | 775 | 1,840 | 3,505 | ||
| R | 681 | 2,312 | 3,105 | ||
| R | 1,006 | 1,208 | 2,268 | ||
| D | 808 | 600 | 2,158 | ||
| R | 1,055 | 1,297 | 2,385 | ||
| R | 549 | 1,453 | 2,129 | ||
| R | 951 | 1,246 | 2,218 | ||
| D | 1,110 | 995 | 2,115 | ||
| D | 676 | 271 | 1,548 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
43.4%
Irish
10.5%
English
5.5%
American
3.5%
Italian
2.0%
French
1.9%
Polish
1.3%
African American
0.8%
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: 30.0 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
$66,215
Wayne County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Wayne County$66,215
Nebraska$76,475
United States$80,734
Wayne 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
13.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 185.4%
Working age (18–64)16.1%
Seniors (65+)9.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
90.3%
speak English only
Spanish7.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.6%
Other languages0.4%
Other Indo-European0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 35.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Wayne County's R+49.2 margin in 2024 reflects the broader shift toward Republican dominance across Nebraska's agricultural northeast, where small-town and farm-based communities have voted consistently red for decades.
Its margins are typically close. The Democratic margin reached twenty-eight points in 1932; the Republican margin reached fifty-nine points in 1952. The 2024 margin was forty-nine points.
Its demographics sit near national norms: a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $66,215, and a 13% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Cuming County and Adams 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.
Wayne County, Nebraska. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/31179/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More industrial catholic metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Wayne County, Nebraska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wayne County, Nebraska voted Republican by 48.8 points (R+49), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 4,106 votes cast, 1,006 went Democratic and 3,011 went Republican.
What is Wayne County, Nebraska's political typology?
Akashic places Wayne County, Nebraska in the "Industrial Catholic Metro" typology — Mid-size industrial metros with Catholic ethnic roots — among the most competitive, swing-prone ground in the country. 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 5 times, Republican 29 times, and other 0 times.
When did Wayne County, Nebraska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wayne County, Nebraska voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Wayne County, Nebraska?
Wayne County, Nebraska has a population of 9,844 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wayne County, Nebraska?
Median household income in Wayne County, Nebraska is $66,215 — below the national median of $80,734. The Nebraska state median is $76,475.
What is the political history of Wayne County, Nebraska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wayne County, Nebraska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 29 went Republican. The county's typology — "Industrial Catholic Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.