Houston County, Tennessee: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+58%. Democratic peak: D+74 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+58MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 8,3532024 5-year
- Median household income
- $59,5762024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+74 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+58 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Jackson County, TN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Houston CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Houston 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 | +49.5% |
| 1896 | +43.3% |
| 1900 | +36.0% |
| 1904 | +29.9% |
| 1908 | +38.5% |
| 1912 | +45.5% |
| 1916 | +47.9% |
| 1920 | +33.9% |
| 1924 | +60.2% |
| 1928 | −18.4% |
| 1932 | +73.6% |
| 1936 | +61.6% |
| 1940 | +64.9% |
| 1944 | +59.5% |
| 1948 | +65.8% |
| 1952 | +45.1% |
| 1956 | +50.0% |
| 1960 | +51.1% |
| 1964 | +69.1% |
| 1968 | +22.3% |
| 1972 | +4.1% |
| 1976 | +65.2% |
| 1980 | +40.1% |
| 1984 | +31.8% |
| 1988 | +24.7% |
| 1992 | +46.2% |
| 1996 | +40.0% |
| 2000 | +34.8% |
| 2004 | +19.1% |
| 2008 | +2.1% |
| 2012 | −5.9% |
| 2016 | −41.5% |
| 2020 | −50.1% |
| 2024 | −58.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 773 | 2,989 | 3,810 | ||
| R | 871 | 2,718 | 3,686 | ||
| R | 866 | 2,182 | 3,168 | ||
| R | 1,400 | 1,579 | 3,027 | ||
| D | 1,678 | 1,608 | 3,354 | ||
| D | 2,126 | 1,440 | 3,598 | ||
| D | 2,081 | 993 | 3,127 | ||
| D | 1,868 | 742 | 2,817 | ||
| D | 2,012 | 648 | 2,951 | ||
| D | 1,467 | 882 | 2,367 | ||
| D | 1,716 | 882 | 2,619 | ||
| D | 1,757 | 738 | 2,541 | ||
| D | 1,990 | 407 | 2,427 | ||
| D | 870 | 800 | 1,725 | ||
| O | 636 | 232 | 1,809 | ||
| D | 1,572 | 287 | 1,859 | ||
| D | 1,150 | 366 | 1,533 | ||
| D | 1,033 | 340 | 1,385 | ||
| D | 1,229 | 465 | 1,694 | ||
| D | 1,159 | 202 | 1,455 | ||
| D | 976 | 248 | 1,224 | ||
| D | 1,093 | 229 | 1,331 | ||
| D | 813 | 193 | 1,006 | ||
| D | 750 | 112 | 867 | ||
| R | 258 | 374 | 632 | ||
| D | 444 | 97 | 576 | ||
| D | 790 | 385 | 1,193 | ||
| D | 627 | 207 | 877 | ||
| D | 586 | 172 | 909 | ||
| D | 665 | 288 | 978 | ||
| D | 555 | 287 | 897 | ||
| D | 738 | 341 | 1,104 | ||
| D | 896 | 343 | 1,277 | ||
| D | 704 | 206 | 1,006 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
14.7%
Irish
11.9%
English
11.4%
German
7.2%
Polish
2.2%
Scottish
1.7%
Italian
1.2%
African American
2.1%
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: 43.0 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
$59,576
Houston County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Houston County$59,576
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Houston 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
11.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 188.4%
Working age (18–64)11.7%
Seniors (65+)12.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.1%
Other Indo-European0.2%
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.
Houston County's small population of roughly 8,000 is concentrated in agricultural flatlands along the Cumberland River, and it has returned lopsided Republican margins in every recent presidential cycle, making it one of Tennessee's most reliably one-sided counties.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at seventy-four points in 1932 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2012 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by six points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved eight points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-eight points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $59,576 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 11% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Jackson County and Humphreys 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.
Houston County, Tennessee. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/47083/. 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 Houston County, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Houston County, Tennessee voted Republican by 58.2 points (R+58), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,810 votes cast, 773 went Democratic and 2,989 went Republican.
What is Houston County, Tennessee's political typology?
Akashic places Houston 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 28 times, Republican 5 times, and other 1 times.
When did Houston County, Tennessee last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Houston County, Tennessee voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Houston County, Tennessee?
Houston County, Tennessee has a population of 8,353 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Houston County, Tennessee?
Median household income in Houston County, Tennessee is $59,576 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Houston County, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Houston County, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 28 went Democratic and 5 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.