Whatcom County, Washington: Realigning Affluent Suburb county. In 2024, voted D+25%. Republican peak: R+55 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+25MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Realigning Affluent SuburbAkashic typology
- Population
- 230,5032024 5-year
- Median household income
- $81,7842024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 78.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+30 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+55 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Cook County, MN · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Whatcom CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Whatcom 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 | −13.3% |
| 1896 | +6.0% |
| 1900 | −24.0% |
| 1904 | −55.1% |
| 1908 | −29.7% |
| 1912 | −9.4% |
| 1916 | −12.6% |
| 1920 | −43.1% |
| 1924 | −51.4% |
| 1928 | −55.3% |
| 1932 | +9.3% |
| 1936 | +24.8% |
| 1940 | +5.3% |
| 1944 | +6.8% |
| 1948 | −0.4% |
| 1952 | −15.3% |
| 1956 | −8.9% |
| 1960 | −7.5% |
| 1964 | +29.9% |
| 1968 | −2.2% |
| 1972 | −19.5% |
| 1976 | −0.6% |
| 1980 | −6.4% |
| 1984 | −9.0% |
| 1988 | +3.5% |
| 1992 | +4.4% |
| 1996 | +3.0% |
| 2000 | −0.3% |
| 2004 | +8.8% |
| 2008 | +18.0% |
| 2012 | +13.9% |
| 2016 | +17.4% |
| 2020 | +23.9% |
| 2024 | +24.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 83,295 | 49,213 | 137,868 | ||
| D | 83,660 | 50,489 | 138,620 | ||
| D | 60,340 | 40,599 | 113,339 | ||
| D | 57,089 | 42,703 | 103,788 | ||
| D | 58,236 | 40,205 | 100,339 | ||
| D | 48,268 | 40,296 | 90,394 | ||
| R | 34,033 | 34,287 | 73,757 | ||
| D | 29,074 | 27,153 | 64,510 | ||
| D | 26,619 | 23,801 | 63,679 | ||
| D | 25,571 | 23,820 | 50,094 | ||
| R | 22,670 | 27,228 | 50,686 | ||
| R | 18,430 | 21,371 | 46,057 | ||
| R | 19,739 | 20,007 | 41,679 | ||
| R | 15,027 | 22,585 | 38,801 | ||
| R | 14,003 | 14,695 | 31,199 | ||
| D | 20,297 | 10,900 | 31,422 | ||
| R | 14,298 | 16,651 | 31,526 | ||
| R | 14,533 | 17,414 | 32,191 | ||
| R | 12,877 | 17,590 | 30,828 | ||
| R | 12,736 | 12,850 | 27,451 | ||
| D | 14,787 | 12,890 | 28,098 | ||
| D | 14,877 | 13,351 | 28,834 | ||
| D | 15,428 | 9,035 | 25,756 | ||
| D | 11,355 | 9,254 | 22,511 | ||
| R | 4,100 | 14,621 | 19,021 | ||
| R | 927 | 9,214 | 16,110 | ||
| R | 2,288 | 9,157 | 15,920 | ||
| R | 5,629 | 7,632 | 15,842 | ||
| O | 2,773 | 4,187 | 15,005 | ||
| R | 2,398 | 4,955 | 8,621 | ||
| R | 1,174 | 5,410 | 7,684 | ||
| R | 1,700 | 2,952 | 5,214 | ||
| D | 2,227 | 1,971 | 4,270 | ||
| R | 1,161 | 1,709 | 4,118 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
15.5%
English
14.0%
Irish
10.0%
Scottish
3.7%
Italian
3.4%
American
3.2%
French
2.6%
African American
0.8%
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: 38.4 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
$81,784
Whatcom County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Whatcom County$81,784
Washington$98,141
United States$80,734
Whatcom 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
12.9%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.6%
Working age (18–64)13.2%
Seniors (65+)8.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.5%
speak English only
Spanish6.1%
Other Indo-European3.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.3%
Other languages0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to Western Washington University and a long stretch of the Canadian border, Whatcom County has shifted steadily toward Democratic presidential candidates over the past two decades, posting a 24.7-point margin in 2024.
Once reliably Republican — a margin of fifty-five points in 1928 at its widest — Whatcom County has trended Democratic. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-five points.
A median household income of $81,784 — among the higher at this geographic scale — and a population of 230,503 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Cook County and Douglas 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.
Whatcom County, Washington. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/53073/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Whatcom County, Washington vote in 2024?
In 2024, Whatcom County, Washington voted Democratic by 24.7 points (D+25), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 137,868 votes cast, 83,295 went Democratic and 49,213 went Republican.
What is Whatcom County, Washington's political typology?
Akashic places Whatcom County, Washington in the "Realigning Affluent Suburb" typology — College-educated, affluent suburbs — the one bloc moving toward the Democratic Party. 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 15 times, Republican 18 times, and other 1 times.
When did Whatcom County, Washington last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Whatcom County, Washington voted Republican was 2000.
How many people live in Whatcom County, Washington?
Whatcom County, Washington has a population of 230,503 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Whatcom County, Washington?
Median household income in Whatcom County, Washington is $81,784 — above the national median of $80,734. The Washington state median is $98,141.
What is the political history of Whatcom County, Washington?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Whatcom County, Washington from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "Realigning Affluent Suburb" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.