Essex County, Virginia: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted R+8%. Democratic peak: D+66 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+8MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 10,6232024 5-year
- Median household income
- $56,5202024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 54.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 37.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+66 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+28 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Eaton County, MI · similarity 0.95
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Essex CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Essex 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 | −0.7% |
| 1896 | +16.0% |
| 1900 | +10.7% |
| 1904 | −8.8% |
| 1908 | +49.5% |
| 1912 | +57.1% |
| 1916 | +59.4% |
| 1920 | +51.9% |
| 1924 | +66.4% |
| 1928 | +24.4% |
| 1932 | +60.9% |
| 1936 | +63.7% |
| 1940 | +58.0% |
| 1944 | +47.8% |
| 1948 | +16.6% |
| 1952 | −5.6% |
| 1956 | −25.0% |
| 1960 | −8.7% |
| 1964 | −1.9% |
| 1968 | +4.9% |
| 1972 | −28.5% |
| 1976 | −2.7% |
| 1980 | −10.1% |
| 1984 | −23.8% |
| 1988 | −22.1% |
| 1992 | −8.0% |
| 1996 | +1.2% |
| 2000 | −6.4% |
| 2004 | −6.8% |
| 2008 | +10.3% |
| 2012 | +7.3% |
| 2016 | −2.1% |
| 2020 | −0.6% |
| 2024 | −7.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,775 | 3,245 | 6,074 | ||
| R | 3,038 | 3,075 | 6,178 | ||
| R | 2,542 | 2,657 | 5,372 | ||
| D | 3,016 | 2,602 | 5,675 | ||
| D | 2,934 | 2,379 | 5,364 | ||
| R | 2,007 | 2,304 | 4,344 | ||
| R | 1,750 | 1,995 | 3,831 | ||
| D | 1,668 | 1,627 | 3,533 | ||
| R | 1,583 | 1,897 | 3,904 | ||
| R | 1,294 | 2,038 | 3,365 | ||
| R | 1,300 | 2,120 | 3,440 | ||
| R | 1,280 | 1,581 | 2,987 | ||
| R | 1,306 | 1,380 | 2,730 | ||
| R | 808 | 1,482 | 2,368 | ||
| D | 897 | 791 | 2,164 | ||
| R | 760 | 789 | 1,550 | ||
| R | 509 | 606 | 1,117 | ||
| R | 328 | 597 | 1,076 | ||
| R | 545 | 610 | 1,163 | ||
| D | 329 | 221 | 651 | ||
| D | 508 | 179 | 689 | ||
| D | 547 | 145 | 693 | ||
| D | 527 | 116 | 645 | ||
| D | 420 | 101 | 524 | ||
| D | 321 | 195 | 516 | ||
| D | 315 | 60 | 384 | ||
| D | 319 | 101 | 420 | ||
| D | 302 | 77 | 379 | ||
| D | 278 | 72 | 361 | ||
| D | 364 | 123 | 487 | ||
| R | 430 | 513 | 944 | ||
| D | 731 | 590 | 1,322 | ||
| D | 924 | 669 | 1,597 | ||
| R | 890 | 903 | 1,848 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
16.0%
American
11.0%
German
5.8%
Irish
5.7%
Italian
1.9%
Scottish
1.1%
African American
29.7%
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: 47.1 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
$56,520
Essex County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Essex County$56,520
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Essex 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
12.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.8%
Working age (18–64)11.6%
Seniors (65+)13.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.3%
speak English only
Spanish3.4%
Other Indo-European2.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Essex County's roughly 10,000 residents occupy a rural stretch of the Northern Neck region, where presidential margins have historically run double digits but compressed noticeably by the mid-2020s.
The Democratic margin here reached sixty-six points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was eight points. The recent movement, modest against a deep Democratic baseline, mirrors a broader rightward drift across the Black Belt.
The economic context is part of the story: a median household income of $56,520 and a 12% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Eaton County and Porter 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.
Essex County, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51057/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Virginia
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Frequently asked questions
How did Essex County, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Essex County, Virginia voted Republican by 7.7 points (R+8), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 6,074 votes cast, 2,775 went Democratic and 3,245 went Republican.
What is Essex County, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Essex County, Virginia in the "Black Belt" typology — Black-majority counties of the rural South — long the most Democratic ground in the region, now trending Republican at the margins. 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 17 times, Republican 17 times, and other 0 times.
When did Essex County, Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Essex County, Virginia voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Essex County, Virginia?
Essex County, Virginia has a population of 10,623 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Essex County, Virginia?
Median household income in Essex County, Virginia is $56,520 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Essex County, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Essex County, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.