Refugio County, Texas: New American county. In 2024, voted R+40%. Democratic peak: D+74 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+40MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 6,7072024 5-year
- Median household income
- $60,1812024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 56.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 50.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+74 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+40 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Karnes County, TX · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Refugio CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Refugio 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 | +22.4% |
| 1916 | +25.3% |
| 1920 | −20.6% |
| 1924 | +35.2% |
| 1928 | +27.3% |
| 1932 | +73.8% |
| 1936 | +62.5% |
| 1940 | +52.7% |
| 1944 | +41.9% |
| 1948 | +52.2% |
| 1952 | −0.9% |
| 1956 | −6.5% |
| 1960 | +25.2% |
| 1964 | +50.0% |
| 1968 | +17.7% |
| 1972 | −29.2% |
| 1976 | +18.1% |
| 1980 | +6.6% |
| 1984 | −21.6% |
| 1988 | −1.4% |
| 1992 | +1.7% |
| 1996 | +8.0% |
| 2000 | −18.8% |
| 2004 | −28.4% |
| 2008 | −14.5% |
| 2012 | −24.8% |
| 2016 | −27.0% |
| 2020 | −32.7% |
| 2024 | −39.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 919 | 2,134 | 3,075 | ||
| R | 1,108 | 2,210 | 3,366 | ||
| R | 1,034 | 1,830 | 2,948 | ||
| R | 998 | 1,663 | 2,677 | ||
| R | 1,382 | 1,855 | 3,261 | ||
| R | 1,232 | 2,212 | 3,455 | ||
| R | 1,172 | 1,721 | 2,921 | ||
| D | 1,635 | 1,376 | 3,249 | ||
| D | 1,531 | 1,469 | 3,732 | ||
| R | 1,831 | 1,883 | 3,724 | ||
| R | 1,559 | 2,421 | 3,988 | ||
| D | 2,224 | 1,944 | 4,251 | ||
| D | 2,218 | 1,537 | 3,765 | ||
| R | 1,060 | 1,937 | 3,000 | ||
| D | 1,699 | 1,114 | 3,299 | ||
| D | 2,319 | 772 | 3,091 | ||
| D | 1,777 | 1,062 | 2,842 | ||
| R | 1,188 | 1,355 | 2,552 | ||
| R | 1,401 | 1,427 | 2,832 | ||
| D | 1,637 | 489 | 2,199 | ||
| D | 991 | 376 | 1,468 | ||
| D | 1,487 | 458 | 1,952 | ||
| D | 1,058 | 242 | 1,305 | ||
| D | 1,201 | 172 | 1,394 | ||
| D | 671 | 383 | 1,054 | ||
| D | 585 | 256 | 934 | ||
| R | 227 | 360 | 645 | ||
| D | 408 | 232 | 696 | ||
| D | 204 | 115 | 398 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
12.1%
Irish
6.5%
English
5.9%
American
1.5%
French
1.2%
Italian
0.5%
African American
5.8%
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: 42.4 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
$60,181
Refugio County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Refugio County$60,181
Texas$78,476
United States$80,734
Refugio 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
14.6%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.8%
Working age (18–64)14.8%
Seniors (65+)10.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
75.1%
speak English only
Spanish24.5%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 18.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Refugio County's economy revolves around cattle ranching and oil production, and its roughly 7,800 residents have delivered Republican presidential margins above 35 points in each of the last three cycles, a pattern consistent with rural South Texas energy corridors.
Refugio County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of seventy-four points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved seven 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 57% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $60,181, and a population of 6,707. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Karnes County and San Patricio 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.
Refugio County, Texas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/48391/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Refugio County, Texas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Refugio County, Texas voted Republican by 39.5 points (R+40), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,075 votes cast, 919 went Democratic and 2,134 went Republican.
What is Refugio County, Texas's political typology?
Akashic places Refugio 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 16 times, Republican 13 times, and other 0 times.
When did Refugio County, Texas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Refugio County, Texas voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Refugio County, Texas?
Refugio County, Texas has a population of 6,707 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Refugio County, Texas?
Median household income in Refugio County, Texas is $60,181 — below the national median of $80,734. The Texas state median is $78,476.
What is the political history of Refugio County, Texas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Refugio County, Texas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.