Mercer County, West Virginia: Evangelical Deep South county. In 2024, voted R+57%. Republican peak: R+57 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+57MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Evangelical Deep SouthAkashic typology
- Population
- 58,5632024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,2102024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 88.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+35 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Tazewell County, VA · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Mercer CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Mercer County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | +5.0% |
| 1896 | −5.9% |
| 1900 | +12.1% |
| 1904 | −21.7% |
| 1908 | −16.8% |
| 1912 | +24.5% |
| 1916 | +0.5% |
| 1920 | −3.8% |
| 1924 | +4.2% |
| 1928 | −11.3% |
| 1932 | +17.8% |
| 1936 | +26.1% |
| 1940 | +22.9% |
| 1944 | +19.4% |
| 1948 | +20.3% |
| 1952 | +7.8% |
| 1956 | −5.1% |
| 1960 | +19.2% |
| 1964 | +34.5% |
| 1968 | +10.6% |
| 1972 | −39.0% |
| 1976 | +15.5% |
| 1980 | −1.9% |
| 1984 | −20.5% |
| 1988 | −0.3% |
| 1992 | +8.0% |
| 1996 | +5.1% |
| 2000 | −9.8% |
| 2004 | −17.3% |
| 2008 | −27.6% |
| 2012 | −47.0% |
| 2016 | −54.7% |
| 2020 | −54.4% |
| 2024 | −57.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 4,851 | 18,372 | 23,584 | ||
| R | 5,556 | 19,237 | 25,135 | ||
| R | 4,704 | 17,404 | 23,197 | ||
| R | 5,432 | 15,450 | 21,313 | ||
| R | 7,450 | 13,246 | 21,022 | ||
| R | 9,178 | 13,057 | 22,379 | ||
| R | 8,347 | 10,206 | 18,875 | ||
| D | 8,721 | 7,768 | 18,700 | ||
| D | 9,511 | 7,888 | 20,290 | ||
| R | 10,152 | 10,221 | 20,430 | ||
| R | 9,164 | 13,910 | 23,155 | ||
| R | 11,804 | 12,273 | 24,741 | ||
| D | 14,761 | 10,791 | 25,552 | ||
| R | 7,826 | 17,846 | 25,672 | ||
| D | 12,739 | 9,985 | 26,087 | ||
| D | 18,298 | 8,905 | 27,203 | ||
| D | 17,289 | 11,719 | 29,008 | ||
| R | 13,236 | 14,648 | 27,884 | ||
| D | 16,694 | 14,267 | 30,961 | ||
| D | 15,201 | 10,065 | 25,348 | ||
| D | 14,861 | 10,034 | 24,895 | ||
| D | 18,163 | 11,395 | 29,558 | ||
| D | 18,391 | 10,762 | 29,183 | ||
| D | 15,900 | 11,088 | 27,093 | ||
| R | 10,273 | 12,887 | 23,210 | ||
| D | 10,058 | 9,159 | 21,370 | ||
| R | 7,981 | 8,613 | 16,650 | ||
| D | 4,836 | 4,788 | 9,679 | ||
| D | 3,497 | 1,507 | 8,120 | ||
| R | 3,006 | 4,229 | 7,296 | ||
| R | 2,327 | 3,640 | 6,052 | ||
| D | 2,699 | 2,112 | 4,841 | ||
| R | 2,123 | 2,388 | 4,528 | ||
| D | 1,827 | 1,651 | 3,549 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
14.2%
Irish
12.2%
American
10.4%
German
10.2%
Italian
2.5%
Scottish
1.5%
French
0.6%
African American
3.3%
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: 43.5 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
$53,210
Mercer County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Mercer County$53,210
West Virginia$59,608
United States$80,734
Mercer 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
16.5%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.0%
Working age (18–64)16.5%
Seniors (65+)10.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.1%
speak English only
Spanish1.2%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Mercer County, anchored by Bluefield in the state's southern coalfields, has moved from competitive terrain to a reliably wide Republican margin, reflecting the broader realignment of Appalachian working-class voters over the past generation.
The Republican margin here reached its widest at fifty-seven points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-seven points.
A median household income of $53,210, a 17% poverty rate, and a 89% non-Hispanic-white share describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Tazewell County and Lawrence 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.
Mercer County, West Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/54055/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in West Virginia
More evangelical deep south counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Mercer County, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Mercer County, West Virginia voted Republican by 57.3 points (R+57), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 23,584 votes cast, 4,851 went Democratic and 18,372 went Republican.
What is Mercer County, West Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Mercer County, West Virginia in the "Evangelical Deep South" typology — Deeply Republican, heavily Baptist counties of the Deep South. 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 17 times, Republican 17 times, and other 0 times.
When did Mercer County, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Mercer County, West Virginia voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Mercer County, West Virginia?
Mercer County, West Virginia has a population of 58,563 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Mercer County, West Virginia?
Median household income in Mercer County, West Virginia is $53,210 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Mercer County, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Mercer County, West Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Evangelical Deep South" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.