Steele County, North Dakota: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+25%. Republican peak: R+79 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+25MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 1,8042024 5-year
- Median household income
- $77,5002024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+46 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+79 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Kittson County, MN · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Steele CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Steele 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 | −52.6% |
| 1896 | −27.7% |
| 1900 | −52.4% |
| 1904 | −79.5% |
| 1908 | −40.2% |
| 1912 | +1.6% |
| 1916 | −12.7% |
| 1920 | −72.2% |
| 1924 | −49.2% |
| 1928 | −15.4% |
| 1932 | +45.8% |
| 1936 | +25.1% |
| 1940 | +3.8% |
| 1944 | +11.7% |
| 1948 | +4.7% |
| 1952 | −24.7% |
| 1956 | −1.7% |
| 1960 | −1.5% |
| 1964 | +27.6% |
| 1968 | +1.9% |
| 1972 | −8.7% |
| 1976 | +12.0% |
| 1980 | −20.3% |
| 1984 | −9.2% |
| 1988 | +12.9% |
| 1992 | +6.9% |
| 1996 | +10.9% |
| 2000 | −14.9% |
| 2004 | +2.5% |
| 2008 | +20.3% |
| 2012 | +1.9% |
| 2016 | −17.7% |
| 2020 | −23.9% |
| 2024 | −25.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 367 | 622 | 1,015 | ||
| R | 392 | 652 | 1,088 | ||
| R | 361 | 538 | 999 | ||
| D | 518 | 498 | 1,042 | ||
| D | 614 | 404 | 1,032 | ||
| D | 616 | 586 | 1,213 | ||
| R | 475 | 655 | 1,210 | ||
| D | 620 | 486 | 1,225 | ||
| D | 598 | 503 | 1,370 | ||
| D | 895 | 690 | 1,595 | ||
| R | 781 | 941 | 1,740 | ||
| R | 617 | 997 | 1,870 | ||
| D | 1,066 | 835 | 1,926 | ||
| R | 892 | 1,063 | 1,970 | ||
| D | 991 | 952 | 2,031 | ||
| D | 1,404 | 796 | 2,203 | ||
| R | 1,173 | 1,209 | 2,382 | ||
| R | 1,148 | 1,188 | 2,337 | ||
| R | 911 | 1,513 | 2,434 | ||
| D | 1,163 | 1,052 | 2,338 | ||
| D | 1,320 | 1,042 | 2,374 | ||
| D | 1,434 | 1,328 | 2,784 | ||
| D | 1,444 | 724 | 2,873 | ||
| D | 1,925 | 695 | 2,685 | ||
| R | 1,152 | 1,574 | 2,745 | ||
| R | 85 | 1,247 | 2,363 | ||
| R | 337 | 2,222 | 2,609 | ||
| R | 515 | 676 | 1,268 | ||
| O | 253 | 237 | 1,005 | ||
| R | 366 | 881 | 1,282 | ||
| R | 69 | 817 | 941 | ||
| R | 214 | 724 | 973 | ||
| R | 322 | 572 | 901 | ||
| R | 0 | 398 | 756 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.5%
English
6.2%
Irish
5.1%
Polish
0.8%
French
0.7%
Scottish
0.6%
American
0.6%
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: 46.9 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
$77,500
Steele County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Steele County$77,500
North Dakota$76,657
United States$80,734
Steele County ranks in the top 25% 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
12.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1822.6%
Working age (18–64)9.8%
Seniors (65+)11.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.0%
speak English only
Other Indo-European0.9%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 25.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Steele County's roughly 2,200 residents are spread across flat Red River valley cropland, and its presidential margins have tracked North Dakota's broader rural Republican lean consistently across recent cycles.
The Democratic margin here peaked at forty-six points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-five points.
A population of 1,804, a 95% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $77,500 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Kittson County and Price 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.
Steele County, North Dakota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/38091/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in North Dakota
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Steele County, North Dakota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Steele County, North Dakota voted Republican by 25.1 points (R+25), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,015 votes cast, 367 went Democratic and 622 went Republican.
What is Steele County, North Dakota's political typology?
Akashic places Steele County, North Dakota in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. 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 14 times, Republican 19 times, and other 1 times.
When did Steele County, North Dakota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Steele County, North Dakota voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Steele County, North Dakota?
Steele County, North Dakota has a population of 1,804 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Steele County, North Dakota?
Median household income in Steele County, North Dakota is $77,500 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Dakota state median is $76,657.
What is the political history of Steele County, North Dakota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Steele County, North Dakota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 19 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.