Fayette County, Pennsylvania: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+38%. Democratic peak: D+47 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+38MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 125,9972024 5-year
- Median household income
- $58,2362024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+47 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+38 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Fayette County, WV · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Fayette CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Fayette 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 | +4.4% |
| 1896 | −5.1% |
| 1900 | −11.0% |
| 1904 | −23.4% |
| 1908 | −9.0% |
| 1912 | +16.9% |
| 1916 | +2.7% |
| 1920 | −19.2% |
| 1924 | −28.7% |
| 1928 | −18.3% |
| 1932 | +26.0% |
| 1936 | +37.0% |
| 1940 | +27.3% |
| 1944 | +22.9% |
| 1948 | +25.8% |
| 1952 | +23.1% |
| 1956 | +15.8% |
| 1960 | +21.0% |
| 1964 | +47.2% |
| 1968 | +25.9% |
| 1972 | −9.5% |
| 1976 | +22.9% |
| 1980 | +17.6% |
| 1984 | +24.4% |
| 1988 | +32.1% |
| 1992 | +33.0% |
| 1996 | +26.5% |
| 2000 | +16.4% |
| 2004 | +7.4% |
| 2008 | −0.4% |
| 2012 | −8.3% |
| 2016 | −30.8% |
| 2020 | −33.4% |
| 2024 | −37.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 19,548 | 43,633 | 63,543 | ||
| R | 20,444 | 41,227 | 62,139 | ||
| R | 17,946 | 34,590 | 54,099 | ||
| R | 21,971 | 26,018 | 48,649 | ||
| R | 25,866 | 26,081 | 52,560 | ||
| D | 29,120 | 25,045 | 54,707 | ||
| D | 28,152 | 20,013 | 49,532 | ||
| D | 26,359 | 14,019 | 46,532 | ||
| D | 30,577 | 12,820 | 53,861 | ||
| D | 33,098 | 16,915 | 50,349 | ||
| D | 35,098 | 21,314 | 56,547 | ||
| D | 27,963 | 19,252 | 49,383 | ||
| D | 32,232 | 20,021 | 53,244 | ||
| R | 22,475 | 27,288 | 50,479 | ||
| D | 34,340 | 18,921 | 59,450 | ||
| D | 45,155 | 16,127 | 61,558 | ||
| D | 41,560 | 27,120 | 68,861 | ||
| D | 38,312 | 27,857 | 66,375 | ||
| D | 43,921 | 27,348 | 71,745 | ||
| D | 34,971 | 20,401 | 56,367 | ||
| D | 35,093 | 21,945 | 57,489 | ||
| D | 41,960 | 23,908 | 66,114 | ||
| D | 48,291 | 21,984 | 71,144 | ||
| D | 27,662 | 15,903 | 45,156 | ||
| R | 19,063 | 27,693 | 47,183 | ||
| R | 8,855 | 19,064 | 35,587 | ||
| R | 13,358 | 20,186 | 35,611 | ||
| D | 10,416 | 9,838 | 21,529 | ||
| D | 7,363 | 4,168 | 18,892 | ||
| R | 8,220 | 10,012 | 19,921 | ||
| R | 6,792 | 11,486 | 20,071 | ||
| R | 7,650 | 9,637 | 17,999 | ||
| R | 8,349 | 9,268 | 18,055 | ||
| D | 7,508 | 6,859 | 14,856 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.0%
Irish
15.9%
Italian
10.7%
English
10.4%
Polish
7.2%
American
4.8%
Scottish
1.4%
African American
3.1%
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: 45.4 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
$58,236
Fayette County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Fayette County$58,236
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Fayette 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
16.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1822.2%
Working age (18–64)15.5%
Seniors (65+)15.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.1%
Spanish0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
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 64.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Fayette County's coalfield heritage shaped decades of Democratic dominance, but a long decline in mining employment has coincided with a dramatic partisan realignment — the 2024 presidential margin reached R+38, one of the widest swings in the state.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at forty-seven points in 1964 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2008 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by zero points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-eight points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $58,236 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 17% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Fayette County and McDowell 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.
Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/42051/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Pennsylvania
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Frequently asked questions
How did Fayette County, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Fayette County, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 37.9 points (R+38), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 63,543 votes cast, 19,548 went Democratic and 43,633 went Republican.
What is Fayette County, Pennsylvania's political typology?
Akashic places Fayette County, Pennsylvania in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to Republican. 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 21 times, Republican 13 times, and other 0 times.
When did Fayette County, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Fayette County, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 2004.
How many people live in Fayette County, Pennsylvania?
Fayette County, Pennsylvania has a population of 125,997 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Fayette County, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Fayette County, Pennsylvania is $58,236 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Fayette County, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Fayette County, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 21 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.