Perry County, Tennessee: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+69%. Republican peak: R+69 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+69MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 8,6972024 5-year
- Median household income
- $55,9722024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+62 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+69 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Stewart County, TN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Perry CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Perry 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 | +29.5% |
| 1896 | +27.2% |
| 1900 | +16.5% |
| 1904 | +12.6% |
| 1908 | +5.4% |
| 1912 | +24.2% |
| 1916 | +15.6% |
| 1920 | −3.8% |
| 1924 | +29.5% |
| 1928 | +26.4% |
| 1932 | +58.6% |
| 1936 | +61.7% |
| 1940 | +52.5% |
| 1944 | +33.2% |
| 1948 | +42.2% |
| 1952 | +22.0% |
| 1956 | +20.3% |
| 1960 | +24.8% |
| 1964 | +47.4% |
| 1968 | +10.2% |
| 1972 | +2.0% |
| 1976 | +51.8% |
| 1980 | +27.7% |
| 1984 | +16.2% |
| 1988 | +17.1% |
| 1992 | +40.5% |
| 1996 | +29.2% |
| 2000 | +16.9% |
| 2004 | +1.8% |
| 2008 | −8.9% |
| 2012 | −22.4% |
| 2016 | −55.0% |
| 2020 | −63.0% |
| 2024 | −69.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 558 | 3,139 | 3,716 | ||
| R | 615 | 2,775 | 3,428 | ||
| R | 597 | 2,167 | 2,855 | ||
| R | 992 | 1,578 | 2,621 | ||
| R | 1,329 | 1,596 | 3,000 | ||
| D | 1,579 | 1,522 | 3,150 | ||
| D | 1,650 | 1,165 | 2,866 | ||
| D | 1,444 | 747 | 2,386 | ||
| D | 1,889 | 708 | 2,919 | ||
| D | 1,208 | 854 | 2,076 | ||
| D | 1,316 | 948 | 2,267 | ||
| D | 1,401 | 783 | 2,232 | ||
| D | 1,660 | 520 | 2,201 | ||
| D | 937 | 900 | 1,871 | ||
| O | 726 | 519 | 2,029 | ||
| D | 1,440 | 514 | 1,954 | ||
| D | 1,076 | 645 | 1,737 | ||
| D | 1,052 | 694 | 1,760 | ||
| D | 1,192 | 762 | 1,954 | ||
| D | 1,196 | 459 | 1,748 | ||
| D | 771 | 387 | 1,158 | ||
| D | 1,068 | 332 | 1,403 | ||
| D | 896 | 210 | 1,111 | ||
| D | 705 | 182 | 893 | ||
| D | 616 | 359 | 975 | ||
| D | 494 | 268 | 766 | ||
| R | 692 | 747 | 1,439 | ||
| D | 663 | 483 | 1,151 | ||
| D | 664 | 379 | 1,179 | ||
| D | 756 | 678 | 1,446 | ||
| D | 752 | 584 | 1,336 | ||
| D | 851 | 608 | 1,470 | ||
| D | 1,000 | 572 | 1,573 | ||
| D | 710 | 371 | 1,151 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
22.7%
German
12.4%
English
12.2%
Irish
10.9%
Scottish
2.6%
Polish
1.0%
Italian
0.7%
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: 43.3 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
$55,972
Perry County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Perry County$55,972
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Perry 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
18.1%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1832.1%
Working age (18–64)13.9%
Seniors (65+)14.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.3%
speak English only
Other Indo-European2.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.2%
Spanish0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Perry County's R+69.5 margin in 2024 places it among the most one-sided rural counties in the state. With fewer than 8,000 residents and an economy long tied to timber and small-scale agriculture, its electorate moves in near-unanimous fashion in federal contests.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at sixty-two points in 1936 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 nine points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved six points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-nine points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $55,972 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 18% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Stewart County and Overton 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.
Perry County, Tennessee. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/47135/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Tennessee
More appalachian realigners counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Perry County, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Perry County, Tennessee voted Republican by 69.5 points (R+69), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,716 votes cast, 558 went Democratic and 3,139 went Republican.
What is Perry County, Tennessee's political typology?
Akashic places Perry 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 27 times, Republican 6 times, and other 1 times.
When did Perry County, Tennessee last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Perry County, Tennessee voted Democratic was 2004.
How many people live in Perry County, Tennessee?
Perry County, Tennessee has a population of 8,697 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Perry County, Tennessee?
Median household income in Perry County, Tennessee is $55,972 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Perry County, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Perry County, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 27 went Democratic and 6 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.