Portage County, Ohio: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+15%. Republican peak: R+43 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+15MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 161,9562024 5-year
- Median household income
- $75,7662024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+37 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+43 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Hardeman County, TN · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Portage CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Portage 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 | −5.3% |
| 1896 | −1.0% |
| 1900 | −8.1% |
| 1904 | −29.5% |
| 1908 | −6.2% |
| 1912 | +22.9% |
| 1916 | +14.7% |
| 1920 | −20.3% |
| 1924 | −40.7% |
| 1928 | −43.2% |
| 1932 | +0.4% |
| 1936 | +25.7% |
| 1940 | +3.7% |
| 1944 | +1.0% |
| 1948 | +1.5% |
| 1952 | −11.8% |
| 1956 | −18.1% |
| 1960 | −2.9% |
| 1964 | +36.5% |
| 1968 | +3.5% |
| 1972 | −5.6% |
| 1976 | +14.8% |
| 1980 | −4.7% |
| 1984 | −15.1% |
| 1988 | −1.4% |
| 1992 | +12.7% |
| 1996 | +18.0% |
| 2000 | +5.0% |
| 2004 | +6.6% |
| 2008 | +9.0% |
| 2012 | +5.5% |
| 2016 | −9.8% |
| 2020 | −12.5% |
| 2024 | −15.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 34,759 | 47,681 | 83,619 | ||
| R | 35,661 | 45,990 | 82,872 | ||
| R | 32,397 | 39,971 | 77,602 | ||
| D | 39,453 | 35,242 | 76,776 | ||
| D | 41,856 | 34,822 | 78,402 | ||
| D | 40,675 | 35,583 | 76,647 | ||
| D | 31,446 | 28,271 | 62,899 | ||
| D | 29,441 | 18,939 | 58,238 | ||
| D | 26,325 | 18,447 | 62,135 | ||
| R | 25,607 | 26,334 | 52,480 | ||
| R | 21,719 | 29,536 | 51,687 | ||
| R | 20,570 | 22,829 | 48,190 | ||
| D | 24,417 | 17,927 | 43,824 | ||
| R | 20,769 | 23,294 | 45,002 | ||
| D | 16,348 | 15,064 | 36,505 | ||
| D | 23,308 | 10,842 | 34,150 | ||
| R | 18,528 | 19,634 | 38,162 | ||
| R | 13,128 | 18,943 | 32,071 | ||
| R | 13,553 | 17,168 | 30,721 | ||
| D | 11,987 | 11,621 | 23,876 | ||
| D | 12,533 | 12,284 | 24,817 | ||
| D | 12,687 | 11,777 | 24,464 | ||
| D | 13,798 | 8,035 | 22,463 | ||
| D | 9,662 | 9,586 | 19,981 | ||
| R | 4,756 | 12,086 | 16,948 | ||
| R | 2,994 | 8,583 | 13,749 | ||
| R | 5,405 | 8,231 | 13,953 | ||
| D | 4,269 | 3,142 | 7,683 | ||
| O | 2,855 | 1,162 | 7,387 | ||
| R | 3,625 | 4,129 | 8,071 | ||
| R | 2,486 | 4,712 | 7,541 | ||
| R | 3,651 | 4,311 | 8,184 | ||
| R | 3,995 | 4,073 | 8,144 | ||
| R | 2,953 | 3,310 | 6,778 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.4%
Irish
13.7%
English
11.6%
Italian
9.8%
American
9.8%
Polish
5.5%
Scottish
1.9%
African American
4.0%
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: 39.6 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
$75,766
Portage County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Portage County$75,766
Ohio$71,389
United States$80,734
Portage 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
11.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.6%
Working age (18–64)11.9%
Seniors (65+)6.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.5%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.8%
Spanish1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%
Other languages0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 71.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Portage County, anchored by Kent State University, shifted from a perennial swing county to a consistent Republican margin over the past decade, a trajectory that mirrors broader trends in Ohio's mid-sized exurban communities.
The Republican margin here reached forty-three points in 1928. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifteen points.
A population of 161,956, a 87% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $75,766 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Hardeman County and Lake 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.
Portage County, Ohio. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/39133/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Portage County, Ohio vote in 2024?
In 2024, Portage County, Ohio voted Republican by 15.5 points (R+15), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 83,619 votes cast, 34,759 went Democratic and 47,681 went Republican.
What is Portage County, Ohio's political typology?
Akashic places Portage County, Ohio in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. 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 15 times, Republican 18 times, and other 1 times.
When did Portage County, Ohio last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Portage County, Ohio voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Portage County, Ohio?
Portage County, Ohio has a population of 161,956 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Portage County, Ohio?
Median household income in Portage County, Ohio is $75,766 — below the national median of $80,734. The Ohio state median is $71,389.
What is the political history of Portage County, Ohio?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Portage County, Ohio from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.