Petersburg city, Virginia: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted D+73%. Democratic peak: D+84 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+73MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 33,5372024 5-year
- Median household income
- $50,6982024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 15.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 76.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+84 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+24 in 1956MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Holmes County, MS · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Petersburg cityPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Petersburg 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 | +41.9% |
| 1896 | +36.1% |
| 1900 | +39.3% |
| 1904 | +72.6% |
| 1908 | +62.8% |
| 1912 | +84.2% |
| 1916 | +74.9% |
| 1920 | +61.8% |
| 1924 | +69.2% |
| 1928 | +20.5% |
| 1932 | +58.6% |
| 1936 | +65.9% |
| 1940 | +56.4% |
| 1944 | +51.6% |
| 1948 | +21.7% |
| 1952 | −9.3% |
| 1956 | −23.6% |
| 1960 | +2.2% |
| 1964 | +16.3% |
| 1968 | +18.3% |
| 1972 | −12.9% |
| 1976 | +21.5% |
| 1980 | +22.1% |
| 1984 | +23.2% |
| 1988 | +31.3% |
| 1992 | +43.6% |
| 1996 | +53.7% |
| 2000 | +60.0% |
| 2004 | +62.3% |
| 2008 | +78.4% |
| 2012 | +80.2% |
| 2016 | +76.7% |
| 2020 | +76.5% |
| 2024 | +72.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 11,219 | 1,702 | 13,119 | ||
| D | 12,389 | 1,584 | 14,118 | ||
| D | 12,021 | 1,451 | 13,786 | ||
| D | 14,283 | 1,527 | 15,908 | ||
| D | 13,774 | 1,583 | 15,540 | ||
| D | 9,682 | 2,238 | 11,949 | ||
| D | 8,751 | 2,109 | 11,062 | ||
| D | 8,105 | 2,261 | 10,890 | ||
| D | 8,671 | 3,125 | 12,717 | ||
| D | 8,177 | 4,231 | 12,591 | ||
| D | 9,248 | 5,753 | 15,074 | ||
| D | 7,931 | 5,001 | 13,277 | ||
| D | 7,852 | 5,041 | 13,082 | ||
| R | 5,156 | 6,710 | 12,053 | ||
| D | 5,519 | 3,478 | 11,169 | ||
| D | 4,521 | 3,253 | 7,775 | ||
| D | 2,950 | 2,820 | 5,803 | ||
| R | 1,882 | 3,166 | 5,449 | ||
| R | 2,342 | 2,822 | 5,179 | ||
| D | 2,019 | 1,189 | 3,831 | ||
| D | 2,256 | 719 | 2,981 | ||
| D | 2,193 | 604 | 2,815 | ||
| D | 2,192 | 444 | 2,651 | ||
| D | 1,920 | 490 | 2,440 | ||
| D | 1,379 | 909 | 2,288 | ||
| D | 1,331 | 228 | 1,595 | ||
| D | 2,072 | 485 | 2,566 | ||
| D | 1,155 | 161 | 1,327 | ||
| D | 1,122 | 75 | 1,244 | ||
| D | 905 | 205 | 1,115 | ||
| D | 924 | 144 | 1,075 | ||
| D | 1,589 | 688 | 2,292 | ||
| D | 1,682 | 766 | 2,536 | ||
| D | 2,558 | 1,046 | 3,606 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
4.0%
American
3.0%
German
1.6%
Italian
1.0%
Irish
0.8%
African American
61.2%
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: 35.8 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
$50,698
Petersburg city ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Petersburg city$50,698
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Petersburg 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
21.7%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1826.9%
Working age (18–64)20.4%
Seniors (65+)16.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.9%
speak English only
Spanish5.9%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
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 11.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Petersburg's electorate, roughly 80% Black, delivered a 72-point margin in 2024—among the widest of any jurisdiction in the commonwealth. The independent city's vote consistently anchors Democratic tallies in the Richmond metro's southern fringe.
The Democratic margin here reached eighty-four points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was seventy-three 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 $50,698 and a 22% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Holmes County and Noxubee 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.
Petersburg city, Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/51730/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Virginia
More black belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Petersburg city, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Petersburg city, Virginia voted Democratic by 72.5 points (D+73), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 13,119 votes cast, 11,219 went Democratic and 1,702 went Republican.
What is Petersburg city, Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Petersburg city, 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 31 times, Republican 3 times, and other 0 times.
When did Petersburg city, Virginia last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Petersburg city, Virginia voted Republican was 1972.
How many people live in Petersburg city, Virginia?
Petersburg city, Virginia has a population of 33,537 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Petersburg city, Virginia?
Median household income in Petersburg city, Virginia is $50,698 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Petersburg city, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Petersburg city, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 31 went Democratic and 3 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.