Chelan County, Washington: New American county. In 2024, voted R+9%. Republican peak: R+55 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+9MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 80,1722024 5-year
- Median household income
- $82,3812024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 67.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 29.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+23 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+55 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Bell County, TX · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Chelan CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Chelan 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 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | −0.3% |
| 1904 | −50.7% |
| 1908 | −28.0% |
| 1912 | +7.0% |
| 1916 | −4.2% |
| 1920 | −35.3% |
| 1924 | −43.4% |
| 1928 | −54.6% |
| 1932 | +12.5% |
| 1936 | +22.7% |
| 1940 | −5.5% |
| 1944 | −3.8% |
| 1948 | +2.0% |
| 1952 | −23.8% |
| 1956 | −15.5% |
| 1960 | −9.2% |
| 1964 | +16.2% |
| 1968 | −13.4% |
| 1972 | −26.3% |
| 1976 | −15.3% |
| 1980 | −24.3% |
| 1984 | −31.9% |
| 1988 | −17.0% |
| 1992 | −12.2% |
| 1996 | −15.8% |
| 2000 | −32.2% |
| 2004 | −27.2% |
| 2008 | −12.0% |
| 2012 | −16.3% |
| 2016 | −14.8% |
| 2020 | −7.8% |
| 2024 | −9.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 18,397 | 22,363 | 42,191 | ||
| R | 19,349 | 22,746 | 43,306 | ||
| R | 13,032 | 18,114 | 34,433 | ||
| R | 13,112 | 18,402 | 32,488 | ||
| R | 13,781 | 17,605 | 31,958 | ||
| R | 10,471 | 18,482 | 29,430 | ||
| R | 8,412 | 16,980 | 26,576 | ||
| R | 8,595 | 12,363 | 23,870 | ||
| R | 7,860 | 10,716 | 23,476 | ||
| R | 8,183 | 11,601 | 20,065 | ||
| R | 6,978 | 13,667 | 20,994 | ||
| R | 6,483 | 11,299 | 19,850 | ||
| R | 7,623 | 10,492 | 18,692 | ||
| R | 5,889 | 10,470 | 17,413 | ||
| R | 6,787 | 9,093 | 17,230 | ||
| D | 10,295 | 7,406 | 17,822 | ||
| R | 8,177 | 9,854 | 18,214 | ||
| R | 7,600 | 10,405 | 18,122 | ||
| R | 6,867 | 11,164 | 18,084 | ||
| D | 7,702 | 7,392 | 15,351 | ||
| R | 6,557 | 7,081 | 13,713 | ||
| R | 7,181 | 8,019 | 15,273 | ||
| D | 8,030 | 4,975 | 13,486 | ||
| D | 7,316 | 5,584 | 13,859 | ||
| R | 2,239 | 7,672 | 9,954 | ||
| R | 995 | 4,543 | 8,177 | ||
| R | 1,540 | 3,885 | 6,635 | ||
| R | 2,747 | 3,011 | 6,321 | ||
| O | 1,331 | 970 | 5,150 | ||
| R | 871 | 1,639 | 2,745 | ||
| R | 372 | 1,248 | 1,729 | ||
| R | 573 | 577 | 1,178 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
15.5%
English
12.1%
Irish
8.3%
American
5.8%
Italian
2.8%
Scottish
2.5%
French
1.9%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 40.4 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
$82,381
Chelan County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Chelan County$82,381
Washington$98,141
United States$80,734
Chelan County ranks in the top 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
8.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.1%
Working age (18–64)7.8%
Seniors (65+)10.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
74.7%
speak English only
Spanish23.5%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
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 34.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Chelan County's economy revolves around tree-fruit agriculture and outdoor recreation tourism along Lake Chelan, producing an electorate that has backed Republican presidential candidates by consistent single-digit to low-double-digit margins over the past decade.
Chelan County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of twenty-three points in 1936. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved two points toward the Republican candidate — part of the sharpest rightward shift recorded among any group of places in the country.
Its demographics describe the shift: a 67% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $82,381, and a population of 80,172. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Bell County and Madison 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.
Chelan County, Washington. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/53007/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More new american counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Chelan County, Washington vote in 2024?
In 2024, Chelan County, Washington voted Republican by 9.4 points (R+9), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 42,191 votes cast, 18,397 went Democratic and 22,363 went Republican.
What is Chelan County, Washington's political typology?
Akashic places Chelan County, Washington in the "New American" typology — Communities where a large share of households speak a language other than English — multilingual, Democratic-leaning overall, yet the hardest-swinging bloc toward the Republican Party in 2024. 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 4 times, Republican 27 times, and other 1 times.
When did Chelan County, Washington last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Chelan County, Washington voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Chelan County, Washington?
Chelan County, Washington has a population of 80,172 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Chelan County, Washington?
Median household income in Chelan County, Washington is $82,381 — above the national median of $80,734. The Washington state median is $98,141.
What is the political history of Chelan County, Washington?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Chelan County, Washington from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 4 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.