Nicholas County, West Virginia: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+60%. Republican peak: R+60 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+60MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 24,2772024 5-year
- Median household income
- $54,6392024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 96.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+45 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+60 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Clay County, WV · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Nicholas CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Nicholas 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 | +17.4% |
| 1896 | +14.4% |
| 1900 | −8.6% |
| 1904 | −0.6% |
| 1908 | −1.8% |
| 1912 | +35.4% |
| 1916 | +9.0% |
| 1920 | −1.7% |
| 1924 | +8.2% |
| 1928 | −5.6% |
| 1932 | +18.1% |
| 1936 | +19.3% |
| 1940 | +10.5% |
| 1944 | +13.8% |
| 1948 | +19.3% |
| 1952 | +12.3% |
| 1956 | −3.8% |
| 1960 | +14.7% |
| 1964 | +44.7% |
| 1968 | +12.6% |
| 1972 | −23.9% |
| 1976 | +28.6% |
| 1980 | +14.5% |
| 1984 | −0.7% |
| 1988 | +16.1% |
| 1992 | +21.9% |
| 1996 | +24.8% |
| 2000 | −3.5% |
| 2004 | −6.7% |
| 2008 | −4.8% |
| 2012 | −36.8% |
| 2016 | −56.5% |
| 2020 | −56.9% |
| 2024 | −60.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,919 | 7,960 | 10,037 | ||
| R | 2,226 | 8,279 | 10,633 | ||
| R | 1,840 | 7,251 | 9,579 | ||
| R | 2,664 | 5,898 | 8,791 | ||
| R | 4,357 | 4,804 | 9,361 | ||
| R | 4,788 | 5,485 | 10,351 | ||
| R | 4,059 | 4,359 | 8,579 | ||
| D | 4,769 | 2,649 | 8,536 | ||
| D | 5,042 | 2,959 | 9,531 | ||
| D | 5,173 | 3,731 | 8,936 | ||
| R | 4,588 | 4,656 | 9,273 | ||
| D | 5,265 | 3,885 | 9,516 | ||
| D | 6,235 | 3,462 | 9,697 | ||
| R | 3,628 | 5,907 | 9,535 | ||
| D | 4,858 | 3,678 | 9,377 | ||
| D | 6,878 | 2,628 | 9,506 | ||
| D | 5,774 | 4,297 | 10,071 | ||
| R | 4,880 | 5,263 | 10,143 | ||
| D | 5,615 | 4,386 | 10,001 | ||
| D | 5,018 | 3,391 | 8,432 | ||
| D | 4,305 | 3,259 | 7,564 | ||
| D | 5,312 | 4,299 | 9,611 | ||
| D | 5,872 | 3,964 | 9,906 | ||
| D | 5,327 | 3,684 | 9,097 | ||
| R | 3,495 | 3,917 | 7,481 | ||
| D | 3,956 | 3,347 | 7,434 | ||
| R | 3,564 | 3,691 | 7,305 | ||
| D | 2,467 | 2,056 | 4,592 | ||
| D | 2,018 | 584 | 4,056 | ||
| R | 1,730 | 1,795 | 3,664 | ||
| R | 1,398 | 1,416 | 3,000 | ||
| R | 1,051 | 1,254 | 2,367 | ||
| D | 1,226 | 908 | 2,201 | ||
| D | 1,063 | 728 | 1,920 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
17.3%
Irish
12.7%
German
12.6%
American
12.4%
Scottish
1.7%
Polish
1.3%
French
1.0%
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: 46.1 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
$54,639
Nicholas County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Nicholas County$54,639
West Virginia$59,608
United States$80,734
Nicholas 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
15.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.6%
Working age (18–64)15.1%
Seniors (65+)15.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.2%
speak English only
Other Indo-European0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Spanish0.1%
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 61.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Nicholas County, anchored by the small city of Summersville, sits in the Appalachian coalfields and has moved from a competitive swing county in the early 2000s to recording some of West Virginia's widest Republican presidential margins by 2024.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at forty-five 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 three points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $54,639 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 15% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Clay County and Summers 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.
Nicholas County, West Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/54067/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Nicholas County, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Nicholas County, West Virginia voted Republican by 60.2 points (R+60), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,037 votes cast, 1,919 went Democratic and 7,960 went Republican.
What is Nicholas County, West Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Nicholas 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 15 times, and other 0 times.
When did Nicholas County, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Nicholas County, West Virginia voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Nicholas County, West Virginia?
Nicholas County, West Virginia has a population of 24,277 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Nicholas County, West Virginia?
Median household income in Nicholas County, West Virginia is $54,639 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Nicholas County, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Nicholas County, West Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 19 went Democratic and 15 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.