Howard County, Texas: New American county. In 2024, voted R+63%. Democratic peak: D+89 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+63MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 32,2902024 5-year
- Median household income
- $69,6492024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 64.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 47.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+89 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+63 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Live Oak County, TX · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Howard CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Howard 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 | +72.5% |
| 1916 | +81.8% |
| 1920 | +65.7% |
| 1924 | +63.2% |
| 1928 | −9.9% |
| 1932 | +89.3% |
| 1936 | +86.0% |
| 1940 | +84.2% |
| 1944 | +75.1% |
| 1948 | +71.6% |
| 1952 | +16.7% |
| 1956 | +19.2% |
| 1960 | +17.3% |
| 1964 | +30.0% |
| 1968 | +0.8% |
| 1972 | −45.9% |
| 1976 | +17.4% |
| 1980 | −19.5% |
| 1984 | −29.1% |
| 1988 | −15.0% |
| 1992 | −12.8% |
| 1996 | −12.9% |
| 2000 | −41.1% |
| 2004 | −47.2% |
| 2008 | −46.3% |
| 2012 | −49.9% |
| 2016 | −55.8% |
| 2020 | −58.4% |
| 2024 | −62.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,759 | 7,817 | 9,650 | ||
| R | 2,069 | 8,054 | 10,241 | ||
| R | 1,770 | 6,637 | 8,723 | ||
| R | 2,110 | 6,453 | 8,695 | ||
| R | 2,545 | 7,029 | 9,689 | ||
| R | 2,663 | 7,480 | 10,201 | ||
| R | 2,744 | 6,668 | 9,548 | ||
| R | 3,732 | 5,007 | 9,857 | ||
| R | 3,735 | 5,129 | 10,873 | ||
| R | 4,445 | 6,024 | 10,517 | ||
| R | 4,115 | 7,519 | 11,691 | ||
| R | 4,451 | 6,658 | 11,312 | ||
| D | 6,984 | 4,899 | 11,972 | ||
| R | 2,714 | 7,343 | 10,080 | ||
| D | 3,897 | 3,812 | 10,501 | ||
| D | 6,083 | 3,272 | 9,367 | ||
| D | 4,844 | 3,403 | 8,335 | ||
| D | 4,506 | 3,051 | 7,571 | ||
| D | 4,779 | 3,412 | 8,202 | ||
| D | 4,179 | 561 | 5,052 | ||
| D | 3,588 | 334 | 4,334 | ||
| D | 4,329 | 367 | 4,703 | ||
| D | 3,094 | 230 | 3,332 | ||
| D | 2,733 | 149 | 2,895 | ||
| R | 665 | 812 | 1,480 | ||
| D | 1,100 | 186 | 1,447 | ||
| D | 703 | 107 | 907 | ||
| D | 747 | 30 | 877 | ||
| D | 530 | 22 | 701 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
8.6%
English
8.4%
Irish
8.1%
American
6.3%
French
1.0%
Scottish
1.0%
Italian
0.7%
African American
4.1%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 36.7 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
$69,649
Howard County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Howard County$69,649
Texas$78,476
United States$80,734
Howard 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
13.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.2%
Working age (18–64)13.4%
Seniors (65+)18.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
69.7%
speak English only
Spanish28.6%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
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 44.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Howard County anchors the eastern Permian Basin around Big Spring, where the petroleum economy has driven some of Texas's most consistent Republican margins—62.8 points in 2024—across a generation of elections.
Howard County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of eighty-nine points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved four 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 64% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $69,649, and a population of 32,290. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Live Oak County and Colorado 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.
Howard County, Texas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/48227/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Howard County, Texas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Howard County, Texas voted Republican by 62.8 points (R+63), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,650 votes cast, 1,759 went Democratic and 7,817 went Republican.
What is Howard County, Texas's political typology?
Akashic places Howard 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 15 times, Republican 14 times, and other 0 times.
When did Howard County, Texas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Howard County, Texas voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Howard County, Texas?
Howard County, Texas has a population of 32,290 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Howard County, Texas?
Median household income in Howard County, Texas is $69,649 — below the national median of $80,734. The Texas state median is $78,476.
What is the political history of Howard County, Texas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Howard County, Texas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.