Fayette County, West Virginia: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+42%. Democratic peak: D+66 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 39,5192024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,1942024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+66 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Marion County, WV · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Fayette CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Fayette 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 | −8.4% |
| 1896 | −23.8% |
| 1900 | +24.9% |
| 1904 | −31.2% |
| 1908 | −19.7% |
| 1912 | +9.6% |
| 1916 | −1.2% |
| 1920 | −7.8% |
| 1924 | −4.4% |
| 1928 | −2.4% |
| 1932 | +16.8% |
| 1936 | +45.4% |
| 1940 | +36.7% |
| 1944 | +37.7% |
| 1948 | +48.7% |
| 1952 | +41.6% |
| 1956 | +22.9% |
| 1960 | +41.2% |
| 1964 | +66.3% |
| 1968 | +42.8% |
| 1972 | −8.7% |
| 1976 | +47.9% |
| 1980 | +37.4% |
| 1984 | +22.5% |
| 1988 | +36.2% |
| 1992 | +35.8% |
| 1996 | +39.3% |
| 2000 | +16.9% |
| 2004 | +6.4% |
| 2008 | −2.7% |
| 2012 | −20.8% |
| 2016 | −39.2% |
| 2020 | −38.6% |
| 2024 | −41.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 4,387 | 10,910 | 15,620 | ||
| R | 5,063 | 11,580 | 16,870 | ||
| R | 4,290 | 10,357 | 15,478 | ||
| R | 5,419 | 8,350 | 14,070 | ||
| R | 7,242 | 7,658 | 15,192 | ||
| D | 8,971 | 7,881 | 16,967 | ||
| D | 8,371 | 5,897 | 14,619 | ||
| D | 9,471 | 3,669 | 14,758 | ||
| D | 9,574 | 3,991 | 15,608 | ||
| D | 11,009 | 5,143 | 16,205 | ||
| D | 11,650 | 7,360 | 19,086 | ||
| D | 13,175 | 5,784 | 19,774 | ||
| D | 15,496 | 5,459 | 20,955 | ||
| R | 9,966 | 11,876 | 21,842 | ||
| D | 14,546 | 5,246 | 21,723 | ||
| D | 19,990 | 4,051 | 24,041 | ||
| D | 18,109 | 7,537 | 25,646 | ||
| D | 16,286 | 10,218 | 26,504 | ||
| D | 22,307 | 9,190 | 31,497 | ||
| D | 21,707 | 7,451 | 29,278 | ||
| D | 17,529 | 7,932 | 25,461 | ||
| D | 22,256 | 10,307 | 32,563 | ||
| D | 23,864 | 8,942 | 32,886 | ||
| D | 17,127 | 12,170 | 29,509 | ||
| R | 12,351 | 12,961 | 25,416 | ||
| R | 9,563 | 10,555 | 22,558 | ||
| R | 9,003 | 10,561 | 19,934 | ||
| R | 5,377 | 5,511 | 11,249 | ||
| O | 3,757 | 2,697 | 11,022 | ||
| R | 3,819 | 5,874 | 10,439 | ||
| R | 3,295 | 6,509 | 10,299 | ||
| D | 5,404 | 3,230 | 8,717 | ||
| R | 2,783 | 4,543 | 7,390 | ||
| R | 2,232 | 2,665 | 5,184 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
19.6%
Irish
10.6%
German
9.5%
American
8.5%
Scottish
3.7%
Italian
2.8%
Polish
1.1%
African American
3.4%
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: 44.7 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
$53,194
Fayette County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Fayette County$53,194
West Virginia$59,608
United States$80,734
Fayette 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
19.2%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1828.9%
Working age (18–64)17.0%
Seniors (65+)13.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.6%
speak English only
Spanish0.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
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 64.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Fayette County's coal-mining heritage once made it a Democratic bedrock in southern West Virginia, but the county has shifted decisively rightward across successive presidential cycles, now returning margins above R+40.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at sixty-six points in 1964 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2008 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by three points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-two points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $53,194 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 19% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Marion County and Logan 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.
Fayette County, West Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/54019/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in West Virginia
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Frequently asked questions
How did Fayette County, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Fayette County, West Virginia voted Republican by 41.8 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 15,620 votes cast, 4,387 went Democratic and 10,910 went Republican.
What is Fayette County, West Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Fayette County, West Virginia in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to Republican. 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 14 times, and other 1 times.
When did Fayette County, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Fayette County, West Virginia voted Democratic was 2004.
How many people live in Fayette County, West Virginia?
Fayette County, West Virginia has a population of 39,519 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Fayette County, West Virginia?
Median household income in Fayette County, West Virginia is $53,194 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Fayette County, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Fayette County, West Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 19 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.