Giles County, Virginia: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+54%. Republican peak: R+54 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+54MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 16,5572024 5-year
- Median household income
- $65,6912024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+41 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+54 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Bates County, MO · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Giles CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Giles 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 | +40.7% |
| 1896 | +11.8% |
| 1900 | +8.0% |
| 1904 | +9.9% |
| 1908 | +7.5% |
| 1912 | +36.8% |
| 1916 | +16.9% |
| 1920 | +11.4% |
| 1924 | +20.9% |
| 1928 | −0.8% |
| 1932 | +26.3% |
| 1936 | +19.3% |
| 1940 | +25.2% |
| 1944 | +17.2% |
| 1948 | +2.6% |
| 1952 | −6.0% |
| 1956 | −5.8% |
| 1960 | +4.3% |
| 1964 | +22.9% |
| 1968 | −10.8% |
| 1972 | −31.6% |
| 1976 | +15.6% |
| 1980 | +9.4% |
| 1984 | −17.3% |
| 1988 | −6.7% |
| 1992 | +4.2% |
| 1996 | +9.4% |
| 2000 | −8.4% |
| 2004 | −17.0% |
| 2008 | −16.3% |
| 2012 | −25.5% |
| 2016 | −48.2% |
| 2020 | −51.4% |
| 2024 | −54.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,069 | 7,102 | 9,263 | ||
| R | 2,156 | 6,876 | 9,176 | ||
| R | 1,950 | 5,910 | 8,212 | ||
| R | 2,730 | 4,660 | 7,558 | ||
| R | 3,192 | 4,462 | 7,795 | ||
| R | 3,047 | 4,320 | 7,498 | ||
| R | 3,004 | 3,574 | 6,820 | ||
| D | 3,196 | 2,566 | 6,726 | ||
| D | 3,346 | 3,023 | 7,632 | ||
| R | 3,042 | 3,490 | 6,648 | ||
| R | 3,047 | 4,340 | 7,460 | ||
| D | 3,627 | 2,978 | 6,940 | ||
| D | 3,779 | 2,731 | 6,739 | ||
| R | 1,869 | 3,671 | 5,706 | ||
| R | 2,045 | 2,722 | 6,277 | ||
| D | 3,133 | 1,952 | 5,167 | ||
| D | 2,214 | 2,030 | 4,327 | ||
| R | 2,016 | 2,270 | 4,379 | ||
| R | 1,717 | 1,935 | 3,655 | ||
| D | 1,529 | 1,448 | 3,115 | ||
| D | 1,703 | 1,203 | 2,910 | ||
| D | 1,716 | 1,024 | 2,744 | ||
| D | 1,547 | 1,047 | 2,596 | ||
| D | 1,754 | 1,016 | 2,802 | ||
| R | 1,293 | 1,313 | 2,606 | ||
| D | 1,319 | 852 | 2,230 | ||
| D | 1,104 | 877 | 1,987 | ||
| D | 839 | 596 | 1,440 | ||
| D | 725 | 267 | 1,246 | ||
| D | 705 | 605 | 1,327 | ||
| D | 721 | 588 | 1,342 | ||
| D | 1,010 | 858 | 1,904 | ||
| D | 993 | 777 | 1,836 | ||
| D | 1,059 | 399 | 1,623 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
12.2%
English
11.4%
German
10.7%
American
9.3%
Italian
2.8%
French
1.5%
Scottish
1.1%
African American
2.2%
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: 45.4 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
$65,691
Giles County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Giles County$65,691
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Giles 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
9.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1810.7%
Working age (18–64)9.4%
Seniors (65+)6.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.6%
Other Indo-European1.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
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 48.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Nestled in Virginia's Ridge and Valley region, Giles County has shifted dramatically rightward over the past decade, delivering some of the state's widest presidential margins despite a small, rural population anchored by the New River corridor.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at forty-one points in 1892 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by eight points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-four points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $65,691 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 9% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Bates County and Jackson 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.
Giles County, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51071/. 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 Giles County, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Giles County, Virginia voted Republican by 54.3 points (R+54), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,263 votes cast, 2,069 went Democratic and 7,102 went Republican.
What is Giles County, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Giles County, Virginia in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to Republican. 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 20 times, Republican 14 times, and other 0 times.
When did Giles County, Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Giles County, Virginia voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Giles County, Virginia?
Giles County, Virginia has a population of 16,557 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Giles County, Virginia?
Median household income in Giles County, Virginia is $65,691 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Giles County, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Giles County, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 20 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.