Amherst County, Virginia: Evangelical Deep South county. In 2024, voted R+36%. Democratic peak: D+84 in 1916.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+36MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Evangelical Deep SouthAkashic typology
- Population
- 31,4852024 5-year
- Median household income
- $68,7242024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 74.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 17.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+84 in 1916MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Highlands County, FL · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Amherst CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Amherst 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 | +16.0% |
| 1896 | +19.0% |
| 1900 | +20.8% |
| 1904 | +66.2% |
| 1908 | +67.5% |
| 1912 | +78.1% |
| 1916 | +84.1% |
| 1920 | +72.9% |
| 1924 | +72.6% |
| 1928 | +52.7% |
| 1932 | +79.2% |
| 1936 | +75.8% |
| 1940 | +74.8% |
| 1944 | +70.5% |
| 1948 | +41.4% |
| 1952 | +19.2% |
| 1956 | +11.3% |
| 1960 | +22.0% |
| 1964 | +1.0% |
| 1968 | −16.7% |
| 1972 | −51.2% |
| 1976 | −3.6% |
| 1980 | −18.2% |
| 1984 | −34.1% |
| 1988 | −29.0% |
| 1992 | −12.7% |
| 1996 | −2.1% |
| 2000 | −15.8% |
| 2004 | −22.8% |
| 2008 | −16.2% |
| 2012 | −19.9% |
| 2016 | −30.3% |
| 2020 | −31.6% |
| 2024 | −36.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,429 | 11,742 | 17,358 | ||
| R | 5,672 | 11,041 | 17,005 | ||
| R | 5,057 | 9,719 | 15,396 | ||
| R | 5,900 | 8,876 | 14,970 | ||
| R | 6,094 | 8,470 | 14,700 | ||
| R | 4,866 | 7,758 | 12,695 | ||
| R | 4,812 | 6,660 | 11,712 | ||
| R | 4,864 | 5,094 | 10,924 | ||
| R | 4,101 | 5,482 | 10,908 | ||
| R | 3,567 | 6,507 | 10,151 | ||
| R | 3,409 | 7,004 | 10,530 | ||
| R | 3,476 | 5,088 | 8,840 | ||
| R | 3,675 | 3,956 | 7,776 | ||
| R | 1,512 | 4,909 | 6,639 | ||
| R | 1,543 | 2,656 | 6,674 | ||
| D | 2,730 | 2,675 | 5,410 | ||
| D | 2,280 | 1,455 | 3,747 | ||
| D | 1,933 | 1,529 | 3,590 | ||
| D | 2,078 | 1,407 | 3,500 | ||
| D | 1,481 | 460 | 2,466 | ||
| D | 2,585 | 442 | 3,039 | ||
| D | 2,048 | 292 | 2,347 | ||
| D | 1,734 | 236 | 1,976 | ||
| D | 1,764 | 195 | 1,980 | ||
| D | 1,442 | 447 | 1,889 | ||
| D | 1,092 | 129 | 1,327 | ||
| D | 1,094 | 168 | 1,270 | ||
| D | 1,142 | 93 | 1,247 | ||
| D | 765 | 64 | 897 | ||
| D | 849 | 164 | 1,015 | ||
| D | 878 | 177 | 1,059 | ||
| D | 1,516 | 990 | 2,528 | ||
| D | 1,751 | 1,190 | 2,955 | ||
| D | 1,666 | 1,190 | 2,973 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
18.7%
English
12.6%
German
7.6%
Irish
6.8%
Italian
2.8%
Scottish
1.6%
Polish
0.8%
African American
13.6%
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: 43.4 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
$68,724
Amherst County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Amherst County$68,724
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Amherst 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
10.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.0%
Working age (18–64)10.4%
Seniors (65+)9.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.3%
speak English only
Spanish1.4%
Other Indo-European0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
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 43.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Amherst sits along Virginia's Blue Ridge foothills with a population under 32,000, and its presidential margins have grown increasingly lopsided — the 2024 gap of 36.5 points reflects a rural realignment pattern common across Southside and Piedmont Virginia.
The Republican margin here reached its widest at fifty-one points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-six points.
A median household income of $68,724, a 11% poverty rate, and a 74% non-Hispanic-white share describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Highlands County and Logan 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.
Amherst County, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51009/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Virginia
More evangelical deep south counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Amherst County, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Amherst County, Virginia voted Republican by 36.4 points (R+36), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 17,358 votes cast, 5,429 went Democratic and 11,742 went Republican.
What is Amherst County, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Amherst County, Virginia in the "Evangelical Deep South" typology — Deeply Republican, heavily Baptist counties of the Deep South. 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 19 times, Republican 15 times, and other 0 times.
When did Amherst County, Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Amherst County, Virginia voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Amherst County, Virginia?
Amherst County, Virginia has a population of 31,485 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Amherst County, Virginia?
Median household income in Amherst County, Virginia is $68,724 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Amherst County, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Amherst County, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 19 went Democratic and 15 went Republican. The county's typology — "Evangelical Deep South" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.