Matagorda County, Texas: New American county. In 2024, voted R+50%. Democratic peak: D+66 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+50MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 36,3292024 5-year
- Median household income
- $58,6282024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 52.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 10.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 43.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+66 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Lincoln County, KY · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Matagorda CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Matagorda 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 | +54.3% |
| 1916 | +45.5% |
| 1920 | +3.5% |
| 1924 | +19.4% |
| 1928 | −18.0% |
| 1932 | +66.3% |
| 1936 | +57.3% |
| 1940 | +53.5% |
| 1944 | +47.0% |
| 1948 | +18.6% |
| 1952 | −32.5% |
| 1956 | −34.2% |
| 1960 | −0.1% |
| 1964 | +26.5% |
| 1968 | +5.9% |
| 1972 | −33.8% |
| 1976 | +14.8% |
| 1980 | −9.2% |
| 1984 | −23.7% |
| 1988 | −8.8% |
| 1992 | −4.3% |
| 1996 | −4.0% |
| 2000 | −23.2% |
| 2004 | −30.1% |
| 2008 | −27.4% |
| 2012 | −33.5% |
| 2016 | −39.9% |
| 2020 | −44.5% |
| 2024 | −50.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,231 | 9,957 | 13,327 | ||
| R | 3,733 | 9,845 | 13,727 | ||
| R | 3,500 | 8,366 | 12,196 | ||
| R | 3,980 | 8,040 | 12,133 | ||
| R | 4,440 | 7,835 | 12,373 | ||
| R | 4,355 | 8,119 | 12,521 | ||
| R | 4,696 | 7,584 | 12,459 | ||
| R | 5,374 | 5,876 | 12,494 | ||
| R | 4,759 | 5,328 | 13,165 | ||
| R | 5,675 | 6,787 | 12,566 | ||
| R | 5,201 | 8,452 | 13,694 | ||
| R | 4,585 | 5,545 | 10,382 | ||
| D | 4,971 | 3,679 | 8,731 | ||
| R | 2,473 | 5,003 | 7,495 | ||
| D | 3,595 | 3,094 | 8,466 | ||
| D | 4,143 | 2,407 | 6,555 | ||
| R | 2,971 | 2,975 | 5,998 | ||
| R | 1,904 | 3,927 | 5,909 | ||
| R | 2,101 | 4,122 | 6,224 | ||
| D | 1,628 | 1,016 | 3,299 | ||
| D | 1,854 | 412 | 3,067 | ||
| D | 2,156 | 651 | 2,813 | ||
| D | 1,700 | 459 | 2,164 | ||
| D | 2,039 | 408 | 2,461 | ||
| R | 829 | 1,194 | 2,029 | ||
| D | 1,353 | 893 | 2,374 | ||
| D | 992 | 918 | 2,091 | ||
| D | 748 | 252 | 1,091 | ||
| D | 710 | 107 | 1,111 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
11.5%
English
8.3%
Irish
6.6%
American
4.3%
French
2.4%
Italian
1.9%
Scottish
0.9%
African American
8.2%
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: 37.8 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
$58,628
Matagorda County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Matagorda County$58,628
Texas$78,476
United States$80,734
Matagorda 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
20.7%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1831.7%
Working age (18–64)17.7%
Seniors (65+)9.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
72.8%
speak English only
Spanish24.9%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
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 44.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Matagorda County lines Matagorda Bay with an economy anchored in oil refining and chemical processing. Its largely rural, working-class electorate has shifted sharply rightward over the past decade, delivering lopsided margins in statewide and federal races.
Matagorda County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of sixty-six points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved six 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 53% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $58,628, and a population of 36,329. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lincoln County and Williams 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.
Matagorda County, Texas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/48321/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Matagorda County, Texas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Matagorda County, Texas voted Republican by 50.5 points (R+50), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 13,327 votes cast, 3,231 went Democratic and 9,957 went Republican.
What is Matagorda County, Texas's political typology?
Akashic places Matagorda 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 12 times, Republican 17 times, and other 0 times.
When did Matagorda County, Texas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Matagorda County, Texas voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Matagorda County, Texas?
Matagorda County, Texas has a population of 36,329 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Matagorda County, Texas?
Median household income in Matagorda County, Texas is $58,628 — below the national median of $80,734. The Texas state median is $78,476.
What is the political history of Matagorda County, Texas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Matagorda County, Texas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.