Butler County, Pennsylvania: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+32%. Republican peak: R+52 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+32MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 197,2542024 5-year
- Median household income
- $89,8432024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+25 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Irion County, TX · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Butler CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Butler 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 | −8.6% |
| 1896 | −13.8% |
| 1900 | −16.3% |
| 1904 | −32.8% |
| 1908 | −15.5% |
| 1912 | +24.5% |
| 1916 | −7.9% |
| 1920 | −42.4% |
| 1924 | −51.1% |
| 1928 | −51.6% |
| 1932 | −13.4% |
| 1936 | −2.3% |
| 1940 | −16.7% |
| 1944 | −21.8% |
| 1948 | −27.5% |
| 1952 | −24.4% |
| 1956 | −31.4% |
| 1960 | −22.8% |
| 1964 | +22.2% |
| 1968 | −4.9% |
| 1972 | −32.8% |
| 1976 | −7.5% |
| 1980 | −17.3% |
| 1984 | −12.3% |
| 1988 | −10.7% |
| 1992 | −2.2% |
| 1996 | −16.6% |
| 2000 | −26.8% |
| 2004 | −29.1% |
| 2008 | −27.4% |
| 2012 | −34.8% |
| 2016 | −36.6% |
| 2020 | −32.5% |
| 2024 | −32.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 40,661 | 79,773 | 121,878 | ||
| R | 37,508 | 74,359 | 113,305 | ||
| R | 28,586 | 64,431 | 98,051 | ||
| R | 28,550 | 59,761 | 89,699 | ||
| R | 32,260 | 57,074 | 90,425 | ||
| R | 30,090 | 54,959 | 85,425 | ||
| R | 25,037 | 44,009 | 70,849 | ||
| R | 21,990 | 32,038 | 60,591 | ||
| R | 22,303 | 23,656 | 61,130 | ||
| R | 22,341 | 27,777 | 50,667 | ||
| R | 24,735 | 31,676 | 56,626 | ||
| R | 19,711 | 28,821 | 52,689 | ||
| R | 22,611 | 26,366 | 50,198 | ||
| R | 14,695 | 29,665 | 45,574 | ||
| R | 19,415 | 21,618 | 45,291 | ||
| D | 27,267 | 17,360 | 44,722 | ||
| R | 17,805 | 28,348 | 46,305 | ||
| R | 13,672 | 26,238 | 39,989 | ||
| R | 15,295 | 25,243 | 40,723 | ||
| R | 9,818 | 17,449 | 27,724 | ||
| R | 12,377 | 19,341 | 31,944 | ||
| R | 13,875 | 19,450 | 33,439 | ||
| R | 16,008 | 16,772 | 33,309 | ||
| R | 8,717 | 11,543 | 21,075 | ||
| R | 6,283 | 19,880 | 26,327 | ||
| R | 3,462 | 13,113 | 18,880 | ||
| R | 3,829 | 10,467 | 15,653 | ||
| R | 4,544 | 5,458 | 11,568 | ||
| O | 4,022 | 1,273 | 11,215 | ||
| R | 4,698 | 6,584 | 12,159 | ||
| R | 3,187 | 6,596 | 10,399 | ||
| R | 4,465 | 6,303 | 11,285 | ||
| R | 5,127 | 6,821 | 12,308 | ||
| R | 4,161 | 5,019 | 10,004 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
33.1%
Irish
19.1%
Italian
12.2%
English
10.8%
Polish
7.7%
American
3.9%
Scottish
2.4%
African American
0.9%
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: 43.4 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
$89,843
Butler County ranks in the top 10% of US counties.
Butler County$89,843
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Butler County ranks in the top 10% 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
8.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 187.3%
Working age (18–64)8.1%
Seniors (65+)10.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.3%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.5%
Spanish1.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 46.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Butler County, north of Pittsburgh, has shifted sharply rightward over the past two decades alongside the broader rural and exurban realignment in western Pennsylvania, delivering a 32-point Republican margin in 2024 despite a population large enough to anchor its own mid-size media market.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-two points in 1928. The 2024 margin was thirty-two points.
A population of 197,254, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $89,843 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Irion County and Llano 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.
Butler County, Pennsylvania. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/42019/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Pennsylvania
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Butler County, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Butler County, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 32.1 points (R+32), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 121,878 votes cast, 40,661 went Democratic and 79,773 went Republican.
What is Butler County, Pennsylvania's political typology?
Akashic places Butler County, Pennsylvania 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 1 times, Republican 32 times, and other 1 times.
When did Butler County, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Butler County, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Butler County, Pennsylvania?
Butler County, Pennsylvania has a population of 197,254 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Butler County, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Butler County, Pennsylvania is $89,843 — above the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Butler County, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Butler County, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 1 went Democratic and 32 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.