Gaines County, Texas: New American county. In 2024, voted R+83%. Democratic peak: D+95 in 1916.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+83MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 22,2322024 5-year
- Median household income
- $74,1322024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 70.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 40.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+95 in 1916MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+83 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Alfalfa County, OK · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Gaines CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Gaines 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 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | +91.9% |
| 1916 | +95.2% |
| 1920 | +87.4% |
| 1924 | +69.2% |
| 1928 | −38.1% |
| 1932 | +82.9% |
| 1936 | +87.9% |
| 1940 | +76.8% |
| 1944 | +68.0% |
| 1948 | +70.1% |
| 1952 | +6.5% |
| 1956 | +10.2% |
| 1960 | −0.7% |
| 1964 | +27.9% |
| 1968 | −8.9% |
| 1972 | −47.8% |
| 1976 | +6.7% |
| 1980 | −33.0% |
| 1984 | −54.3% |
| 1988 | −26.5% |
| 1992 | −26.5% |
| 1996 | −25.0% |
| 2000 | −56.9% |
| 2004 | −70.4% |
| 2008 | −67.2% |
| 2012 | −72.5% |
| 2016 | −71.6% |
| 2020 | −79.7% |
| 2024 | −82.6% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 538 | 5,840 | 6,416 | ||
| R | 576 | 5,355 | 5,996 | ||
| R | 597 | 3,907 | 4,620 | ||
| R | 535 | 3,484 | 4,066 | ||
| R | 650 | 3,385 | 4,067 | ||
| R | 608 | 3,540 | 4,164 | ||
| R | 723 | 2,691 | 3,459 | ||
| R | 1,012 | 1,812 | 3,194 | ||
| R | 1,095 | 2,138 | 3,933 | ||
| R | 1,310 | 2,265 | 3,606 | ||
| R | 797 | 2,714 | 3,533 | ||
| R | 1,182 | 2,390 | 3,656 | ||
| D | 1,880 | 1,643 | 3,544 | ||
| R | 669 | 1,923 | 2,625 | ||
| R | 1,087 | 1,401 | 3,531 | ||
| D | 2,045 | 1,153 | 3,201 | ||
| R | 1,498 | 1,520 | 3,041 | ||
| D | 1,527 | 1,244 | 2,779 | ||
| D | 1,540 | 1,350 | 2,905 | ||
| D | 1,465 | 207 | 1,794 | ||
| D | 1,173 | 173 | 1,471 | ||
| D | 1,509 | 197 | 1,709 | ||
| D | 680 | 42 | 726 | ||
| D | 510 | 44 | 562 | ||
| R | 140 | 312 | 452 | ||
| D | 342 | 37 | 441 | ||
| D | 134 | 9 | 143 | ||
| D | 80 | 0 | 84 | ||
| D | 68 | 0 | 74 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
21.5%
American
7.2%
English
3.0%
Irish
2.9%
African American
1.7%
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: 29.3 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
$74,132
Gaines County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Gaines County$74,132
Texas$78,476
United States$80,734
Gaines 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
6.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 185.9%
Working age (18–64)6.8%
Seniors (65+)17.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
41.2%
speak English only
Other Indo-European35.1%
Spanish23.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Gaines County, anchored by the small city of Seminole in the South Plains, recorded an R+82.6 presidential margin in 2024 — among the widest gaps of any Texas county — reflecting the oil-patch and agricultural economy that shapes its overwhelmingly Republican electorate.
Gaines County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of ninety-five points in 1916. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved three points toward the Republican candidate — part of the sharpest rightward shift recorded among any group of places in the country.
Its demographics describe the shift: a 70% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $74,132, and a population of 22,232. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Alfalfa County and Martin 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.
Gaines County, Texas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/48165/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More new american counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Gaines County, Texas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Gaines County, Texas voted Republican by 82.6 points (R+83), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 6,416 votes cast, 538 went Democratic and 5,840 went Republican.
What is Gaines County, Texas's political typology?
Akashic places Gaines County, Texas in the "New American" typology — Communities where a large share of households speak a language other than English — multilingual, Democratic-leaning overall, yet the hardest-swinging bloc toward the Republican Party in 2024. 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 13 times, Republican 16 times, and other 0 times.
When did Gaines County, Texas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Gaines County, Texas voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Gaines County, Texas?
Gaines County, Texas has a population of 22,232 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Gaines County, Texas?
Median household income in Gaines County, Texas is $74,132 — below the national median of $80,734. The Texas state median is $78,476.
What is the political history of Gaines County, Texas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Gaines County, Texas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 16 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.