Fentress County, Tennessee: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+76%. Republican peak: R+76 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+76MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 19,3092024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,1492024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+6 in 1992MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+76 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Union County, TN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Fentress CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Fentress 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 | −33.7% |
| 1896 | −44.9% |
| 1900 | −41.9% |
| 1904 | −44.5% |
| 1908 | −45.6% |
| 1912 | −3.8% |
| 1916 | −43.7% |
| 1920 | −44.2% |
| 1924 | −45.5% |
| 1928 | −57.1% |
| 1932 | −17.2% |
| 1936 | −26.3% |
| 1940 | −19.2% |
| 1944 | −43.7% |
| 1948 | −23.7% |
| 1952 | −39.3% |
| 1956 | −40.4% |
| 1960 | −45.1% |
| 1964 | −11.9% |
| 1968 | −38.7% |
| 1972 | −52.2% |
| 1976 | +4.9% |
| 1980 | −23.2% |
| 1984 | −24.8% |
| 1988 | −25.0% |
| 1992 | +5.9% |
| 1996 | +0.5% |
| 2000 | −14.7% |
| 2004 | −28.7% |
| 2008 | −43.9% |
| 2012 | −53.4% |
| 2016 | −67.3% |
| 2020 | −71.3% |
| 2024 | −75.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,149 | 8,555 | 9,771 | ||
| R | 1,214 | 7,441 | 8,729 | ||
| R | 1,100 | 6,038 | 7,333 | ||
| R | 1,561 | 5,243 | 6,895 | ||
| R | 1,831 | 4,789 | 6,739 | ||
| R | 2,371 | 4,293 | 6,700 | ||
| R | 2,529 | 3,417 | 6,029 | ||
| D | 2,332 | 2,307 | 5,056 | ||
| D | 2,730 | 2,391 | 5,759 | ||
| R | 1,856 | 3,103 | 4,992 | ||
| R | 1,755 | 2,922 | 4,699 | ||
| R | 1,543 | 2,493 | 4,103 | ||
| D | 1,953 | 1,767 | 3,758 | ||
| R | 665 | 2,154 | 2,853 | ||
| R | 671 | 2,026 | 3,505 | ||
| R | 1,550 | 1,969 | 3,519 | ||
| R | 1,014 | 2,726 | 3,792 | ||
| R | 934 | 2,233 | 3,212 | ||
| R | 934 | 2,143 | 3,077 | ||
| R | 962 | 1,587 | 2,634 | ||
| R | 657 | 1,696 | 2,376 | ||
| R | 919 | 1,365 | 2,317 | ||
| R | 743 | 1,299 | 2,111 | ||
| R | 961 | 1,383 | 2,456 | ||
| R | 375 | 1,398 | 1,793 | ||
| R | 420 | 1,197 | 1,706 | ||
| R | 694 | 1,808 | 2,523 | ||
| R | 348 | 925 | 1,320 | ||
| R | 399 | 444 | 1,181 | ||
| R | 332 | 894 | 1,232 | ||
| R | 278 | 724 | 1,003 | ||
| R | 320 | 782 | 1,103 | ||
| R | 301 | 798 | 1,108 | ||
| R | 223 | 525 | 897 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
17.4%
English
17.3%
Irish
12.1%
German
10.6%
Italian
2.2%
Scottish
1.8%
French
1.1%
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
$51,149
Fentress County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Fentress County$51,149
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Fentress County ranks in the bottom 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
21.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.9%
Working age (18–64)19.6%
Seniors (65+)23.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.0%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 63.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Fentress County, a sparsely populated stretch of the Cumberland Plateau, recorded an R+75.8 presidential margin in 2024 — among the widest in the state — reflecting a rural, majority-white electorate with deep roots in coal and timber economies.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at six points in 1992 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by fifteen points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was seventy-six points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $51,149 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 21% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Union County and Claiborne 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.
Fentress County, Tennessee. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/47049/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Tennessee
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Frequently asked questions
How did Fentress County, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Fentress County, Tennessee voted Republican by 75.8 points (R+76), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,771 votes cast, 1,149 went Democratic and 8,555 went Republican.
What is Fentress County, Tennessee's political typology?
Akashic places Fentress County, Tennessee 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 3 times, Republican 31 times, and other 0 times.
When did Fentress County, Tennessee last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Fentress County, Tennessee voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Fentress County, Tennessee?
Fentress County, Tennessee has a population of 19,309 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Fentress County, Tennessee?
Median household income in Fentress County, Tennessee is $51,149 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Fentress County, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Fentress County, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 31 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.