Bristol city, Virginia: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+40%. Democratic peak: D+63 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+40MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 16,8492024 5-year
- Median household income
- $50,4042024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+63 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+53 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Horry County, SC · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Bristol cityPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Bristol city, 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 | +32.1% |
| 1896 | +3.5% |
| 1900 | +46.8% |
| 1904 | +37.0% |
| 1908 | +36.4% |
| 1912 | +56.4% |
| 1916 | +45.1% |
| 1920 | +38.8% |
| 1924 | +39.6% |
| 1928 | +18.8% |
| 1932 | +59.7% |
| 1936 | +62.6% |
| 1940 | +54.7% |
| 1944 | +42.4% |
| 1948 | +23.2% |
| 1952 | −4.7% |
| 1956 | −4.3% |
| 1960 | −5.1% |
| 1964 | +6.2% |
| 1968 | −9.1% |
| 1972 | −52.6% |
| 1976 | +6.3% |
| 1980 | −8.3% |
| 1984 | −34.6% |
| 1988 | −28.4% |
| 1992 | −9.0% |
| 1996 | −6.6% |
| 2000 | −13.5% |
| 2004 | −27.9% |
| 2008 | −26.0% |
| 2012 | −31.0% |
| 2016 | −43.5% |
| 2020 | −38.9% |
| 2024 | −39.6% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,231 | 5,197 | 7,490 | ||
| R | 2,313 | 5,347 | 7,806 | ||
| R | 1,835 | 4,892 | 7,027 | ||
| R | 2,492 | 4,780 | 7,387 | ||
| R | 2,665 | 4,579 | 7,359 | ||
| R | 2,400 | 4,275 | 6,724 | ||
| R | 2,646 | 3,495 | 6,279 | ||
| R | 2,586 | 2,983 | 6,026 | ||
| R | 2,948 | 3,616 | 7,462 | ||
| R | 2,446 | 4,407 | 6,895 | ||
| R | 2,429 | 5,012 | 7,468 | ||
| R | 2,889 | 3,432 | 6,515 | ||
| D | 3,343 | 2,943 | 6,361 | ||
| R | 2,302 | 7,745 | 10,341 | ||
| R | 1,531 | 1,930 | 4,377 | ||
| D | 3,385 | 2,992 | 6,389 | ||
| R | 1,561 | 1,728 | 3,299 | ||
| R | 1,645 | 1,794 | 3,457 | ||
| R | 1,432 | 1,574 | 3,009 | ||
| D | 1,451 | 879 | 2,462 | ||
| D | 1,561 | 628 | 2,198 | ||
| D | 1,465 | 423 | 1,904 | ||
| D | 1,364 | 311 | 1,682 | ||
| D | 1,252 | 307 | 1,583 | ||
| D | 922 | 630 | 1,552 | ||
| D | 1,036 | 440 | 1,506 | ||
| D | 784 | 344 | 1,134 | ||
| D | 489 | 184 | 677 | ||
| D | 405 | 86 | 566 | ||
| D | 405 | 187 | 599 | ||
| D | 297 | 133 | 443 | ||
| D | 787 | 281 | 1,081 | ||
| D | 413 | 384 | 825 | ||
| D | 465 | 235 | 716 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
23.2%
English
13.7%
Irish
9.4%
German
5.4%
Scottish
3.0%
Italian
1.0%
French
0.6%
African American
4.6%
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
$50,404
Bristol city ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Bristol city$50,404
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Bristol city 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
18.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.0%
Working age (18–64)19.5%
Seniors (65+)11.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.4%
speak English only
Spanish1.7%
Other Indo-European1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
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 0.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Bristol straddles the Virginia-Tennessee state line, with the Virginia side functioning as an independent city despite its county-level classification. Working-class demographics and a manufacturing heritage have tracked closely with regional shifts toward lopsided Republican margins.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-three points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty points.
A population of 16,849, a 85% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $50,404 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Horry County and Cocke 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.
Bristol city, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51520/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Virginia
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Bristol city, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Bristol city, Virginia voted Republican by 39.6 points (R+40), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 7,490 votes cast, 2,231 went Democratic and 5,197 went Republican.
What is Bristol city, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Bristol city, Virginia in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. 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 Bristol city, Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Bristol city, Virginia voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Bristol city, Virginia?
Bristol city, Virginia has a population of 16,849 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Bristol city, Virginia?
Median household income in Bristol city, Virginia is $50,404 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Bristol city, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Bristol city, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.