Gilmer County, West Virginia: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+57%. Republican peak: R+57 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+57MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 7,2882024 5-year
- Median household income
- $47,9812024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 81.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 13.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+43 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Greenbrier County, WV · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Gilmer CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Gilmer 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 | +18.1% |
| 1896 | +15.0% |
| 1900 | −11.5% |
| 1904 | +13.8% |
| 1908 | +20.4% |
| 1912 | +41.0% |
| 1916 | +28.4% |
| 1920 | +6.2% |
| 1924 | +27.1% |
| 1928 | +15.0% |
| 1932 | +39.0% |
| 1936 | +29.8% |
| 1940 | +22.6% |
| 1944 | +20.6% |
| 1948 | +24.7% |
| 1952 | +11.6% |
| 1956 | +6.4% |
| 1960 | +17.9% |
| 1964 | +43.5% |
| 1968 | +5.7% |
| 1972 | −20.4% |
| 1976 | +24.2% |
| 1980 | +11.5% |
| 1984 | −13.3% |
| 1988 | +8.9% |
| 1992 | +15.6% |
| 1996 | +17.3% |
| 2000 | −17.1% |
| 2004 | −17.7% |
| 2008 | −17.5% |
| 2012 | −29.9% |
| 2016 | −52.4% |
| 2020 | −53.1% |
| 2024 | −57.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 486 | 1,822 | 2,344 | ||
| R | 599 | 2,012 | 2,662 | ||
| R | 545 | 1,896 | 2,579 | ||
| R | 840 | 1,595 | 2,522 | ||
| R | 1,004 | 1,445 | 2,521 | ||
| R | 1,159 | 1,665 | 2,852 | ||
| R | 1,092 | 1,560 | 2,740 | ||
| D | 1,390 | 933 | 2,649 | ||
| D | 1,576 | 1,085 | 3,154 | ||
| D | 1,661 | 1,387 | 3,064 | ||
| R | 1,494 | 1,953 | 3,452 | ||
| D | 1,854 | 1,452 | 3,486 | ||
| D | 2,245 | 1,371 | 3,616 | ||
| R | 1,359 | 2,056 | 3,415 | ||
| D | 1,582 | 1,401 | 3,197 | ||
| D | 2,832 | 1,116 | 3,948 | ||
| D | 2,075 | 1,446 | 3,521 | ||
| D | 2,016 | 1,774 | 3,790 | ||
| D | 2,291 | 1,813 | 4,104 | ||
| D | 2,355 | 1,421 | 3,776 | ||
| D | 2,509 | 1,651 | 4,160 | ||
| D | 3,276 | 2,067 | 5,343 | ||
| D | 3,433 | 1,858 | 5,291 | ||
| D | 3,511 | 1,530 | 5,078 | ||
| D | 2,313 | 1,705 | 4,044 | ||
| D | 2,750 | 1,570 | 4,350 | ||
| D | 1,854 | 1,635 | 3,510 | ||
| D | 1,695 | 943 | 2,647 | ||
| D | 1,493 | 469 | 2,500 | ||
| D | 1,512 | 989 | 2,558 | ||
| D | 1,435 | 1,080 | 2,573 | ||
| R | 1,117 | 1,410 | 2,541 | ||
| D | 1,356 | 1,000 | 2,367 | ||
| D | 1,187 | 816 | 2,045 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
13.3%
Irish
11.2%
English
7.9%
American
7.2%
Scottish
1.7%
Italian
1.3%
French
1.1%
African American
11.0%
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: 41.5 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
$47,981
Gilmer County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Gilmer County$47,981
West Virginia$59,608
United States$80,734
Gilmer 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
19.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.8%
Working age (18–64)20.3%
Seniors (65+)9.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.1%
speak English only
Spanish3.7%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 73.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Gilmer County's 2024 presidential margin of R+57 exceeded even West Virginia's already lopsided statewide result, reflecting a rural, aging Appalachian electorate that has shifted sharply over the past two decades.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at forty-three points in 1964 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by seventeen points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-seven points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $47,981 — 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 Greenbrier County and Barbour 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.
Gilmer County, West Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/54021/. 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 Gilmer County, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Gilmer County, West Virginia voted Republican by 57.0 points (R+57), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,344 votes cast, 486 went Democratic and 1,822 went Republican.
What is Gilmer County, West Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Gilmer 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 24 times, Republican 10 times, and other 0 times.
When did Gilmer County, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Gilmer County, West Virginia voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Gilmer County, West Virginia?
Gilmer County, West Virginia has a population of 7,288 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Gilmer County, West Virginia?
Median household income in Gilmer County, West Virginia is $47,981 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Gilmer County, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Gilmer County, West Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.