Wise County, Virginia: Evangelical Deep South county. In 2024, voted R+63%. Republican peak: R+63 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+63MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Evangelical Deep SouthAkashic typology
- Population
- 35,4482024 5-year
- Median household income
- $52,9432024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+52 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+63 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Lee County, VA · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Wise CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Wise 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 | +19.8% |
| 1896 | −12.0% |
| 1900 | −17.3% |
| 1904 | −27.2% |
| 1908 | −21.1% |
| 1912 | +15.6% |
| 1916 | −11.7% |
| 1920 | −11.1% |
| 1924 | +10.2% |
| 1928 | +0.6% |
| 1932 | +37.1% |
| 1936 | +44.7% |
| 1940 | +51.5% |
| 1944 | +43.2% |
| 1948 | +25.8% |
| 1952 | +9.4% |
| 1956 | +6.6% |
| 1960 | +20.0% |
| 1964 | +10.0% |
| 1968 | +7.4% |
| 1972 | −47.7% |
| 1976 | +10.8% |
| 1980 | +7.7% |
| 1984 | −3.9% |
| 1988 | +6.2% |
| 1992 | +17.1% |
| 1996 | +15.7% |
| 2000 | −0.7% |
| 2004 | −17.7% |
| 2008 | −27.7% |
| 2012 | −48.7% |
| 2016 | −61.9% |
| 2020 | −61.7% |
| 2024 | −63.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,036 | 13,655 | 16,812 | ||
| R | 3,110 | 13,366 | 16,615 | ||
| R | 2,701 | 12,086 | 15,163 | ||
| R | 3,760 | 11,076 | 15,018 | ||
| R | 4,995 | 8,914 | 14,138 | ||
| R | 5,802 | 8,330 | 14,312 | ||
| R | 6,412 | 6,504 | 13,310 | ||
| D | 6,712 | 4,660 | 13,092 | ||
| D | 7,681 | 5,144 | 14,857 | ||
| D | 7,017 | 6,189 | 13,386 | ||
| R | 7,303 | 7,909 | 15,399 | ||
| D | 6,779 | 5,767 | 13,141 | ||
| D | 7,134 | 5,691 | 13,351 | ||
| R | 3,028 | 8,805 | 12,111 | ||
| D | 5,942 | 5,004 | 12,606 | ||
| D | 5,070 | 4,146 | 9,226 | ||
| D | 5,822 | 3,876 | 9,716 | ||
| D | 5,567 | 4,871 | 10,495 | ||
| D | 4,729 | 3,911 | 8,660 | ||
| D | 4,862 | 2,836 | 7,845 | ||
| D | 4,588 | 1,817 | 6,420 | ||
| D | 4,538 | 1,448 | 5,998 | ||
| D | 5,399 | 2,057 | 7,470 | ||
| D | 5,276 | 2,405 | 7,744 | ||
| D | 4,559 | 4,504 | 9,063 | ||
| D | 4,157 | 3,322 | 8,224 | ||
| R | 2,587 | 3,236 | 5,853 | ||
| R | 1,468 | 1,862 | 3,365 | ||
| D | 1,279 | 851 | 2,738 | ||
| R | 993 | 1,527 | 2,534 | ||
| R | 897 | 1,572 | 2,484 | ||
| R | 1,215 | 1,725 | 2,956 | ||
| R | 966 | 1,230 | 2,202 | ||
| D | 1,101 | 731 | 1,872 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
20.9%
English
14.7%
Irish
13.0%
German
8.2%
Scottish
2.0%
Italian
1.1%
French
0.6%
African American
3.9%
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: 41.8 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
$52,943
Wise County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Wise County$52,943
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Wise County ranks in the bottom 25% 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
17.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1820.0%
Working age (18–64)16.6%
Seniors (65+)16.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.1%
speak English only
Spanish1.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other Indo-European0.2%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 69.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Wise County sits in the Cumberland Plateau, where decades of coal-industry decline have reshaped both the economy and voting patterns. In 2024 it backed the Republican presidential nominee by 63.3 points, among the widest margins in the state.
The Republican margin here reached its widest at sixty-three points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-three points.
A median household income of $52,943, a 17% poverty rate, and a 90% non-Hispanic-white share describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lee County and Tazewell 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.
Wise County, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51195/. 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 Wise County, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wise County, Virginia voted Republican by 63.2 points (R+63), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,812 votes cast, 3,036 went Democratic and 13,655 went Republican.
What is Wise County, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Wise 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 Wise County, Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wise County, Virginia voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Wise County, Virginia?
Wise County, Virginia has a population of 35,448 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wise County, Virginia?
Median household income in Wise County, Virginia is $52,943 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Wise County, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wise 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.