Polk County, Tennessee: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+68%. Democratic peak: D+85 in 1944.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+68MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 17,8982024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,5222024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+85 in 1944MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+68 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Sharp County, AR · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Polk CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Polk 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 | −2.7% |
| 1896 | −11.6% |
| 1900 | −10.3% |
| 1904 | −18.8% |
| 1908 | −22.3% |
| 1912 | +16.4% |
| 1916 | −7.2% |
| 1920 | −13.4% |
| 1924 | −4.0% |
| 1928 | −26.9% |
| 1932 | +21.5% |
| 1936 | +13.0% |
| 1940 | +73.1% |
| 1944 | +85.4% |
| 1948 | −3.9% |
| 1952 | −11.3% |
| 1956 | −16.4% |
| 1960 | −17.5% |
| 1964 | +11.3% |
| 1968 | −8.8% |
| 1972 | −22.6% |
| 1976 | +28.1% |
| 1980 | +1.1% |
| 1984 | −13.6% |
| 1988 | −5.1% |
| 1992 | +21.7% |
| 1996 | +11.3% |
| 2000 | −6.0% |
| 2004 | −17.9% |
| 2008 | −33.0% |
| 2012 | −37.2% |
| 2016 | −59.0% |
| 2020 | −63.4% |
| 2024 | −68.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,356 | 7,302 | 8,727 | ||
| R | 1,492 | 6,792 | 8,360 | ||
| R | 1,252 | 5,097 | 6,520 | ||
| R | 1,856 | 4,108 | 6,059 | ||
| R | 2,124 | 4,267 | 6,501 | ||
| R | 2,724 | 3,924 | 6,700 | ||
| R | 2,574 | 2,907 | 5,594 | ||
| D | 2,450 | 1,910 | 4,770 | ||
| D | 2,583 | 1,584 | 4,610 | ||
| R | 2,073 | 2,297 | 4,391 | ||
| R | 2,112 | 2,785 | 4,960 | ||
| D | 2,470 | 2,414 | 4,960 | ||
| D | 3,284 | 1,835 | 5,155 | ||
| R | 1,431 | 2,285 | 3,772 | ||
| R | 1,454 | 1,808 | 4,016 | ||
| D | 2,113 | 1,685 | 3,798 | ||
| R | 1,532 | 2,187 | 3,751 | ||
| R | 1,533 | 2,136 | 3,669 | ||
| R | 1,821 | 2,283 | 4,104 | ||
| R | 1,412 | 1,529 | 2,990 | ||
| D | 4,842 | 378 | 5,226 | ||
| D | 3,611 | 562 | 4,173 | ||
| D | 2,283 | 1,755 | 4,062 | ||
| D | 2,540 | 1,642 | 4,182 | ||
| R | 1,012 | 1,760 | 2,784 | ||
| R | 1,150 | 1,247 | 2,431 | ||
| R | 775 | 1,018 | 1,811 | ||
| R | 767 | 887 | 1,671 | ||
| D | 867 | 533 | 2,031 | ||
| R | 747 | 1,175 | 1,922 | ||
| R | 688 | 1,006 | 1,694 | ||
| R | 737 | 906 | 1,644 | ||
| R | 749 | 947 | 1,702 | ||
| R | 656 | 694 | 1,408 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
15.1%
German
13.7%
English
13.6%
American
9.4%
Scottish
3.2%
Italian
2.4%
French
2.1%
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
$62,522
Polk County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Polk County$62,522
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Polk 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
13.9%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.5%
Working age (18–64)14.5%
Seniors (65+)9.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.1%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
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 31.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Polk County, tucked against the Georgia border in the Appalachian highlands, recorded an R+68.1 presidential margin in 2024 — among the widest in the state — reflecting a rural, small-population electorate that has shifted decisively over recent cycles.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at eighty-five points in 1944 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 six points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-eight points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $62,522 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 14% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Sharp County and Montgomery 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.
Polk County, Tennessee. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/47139/. 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 Polk County, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Polk County, Tennessee voted Republican by 68.1 points (R+68), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,727 votes cast, 1,356 went Democratic and 7,302 went Republican.
What is Polk County, Tennessee's political typology?
Akashic places Polk 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 10 times, Republican 24 times, and other 0 times.
When did Polk County, Tennessee last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Polk County, Tennessee voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Polk County, Tennessee?
Polk County, Tennessee has a population of 17,898 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Polk County, Tennessee?
Median household income in Polk County, Tennessee is $62,522 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Polk County, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Polk County, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.