Wetzel County, West Virginia: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+56%. Republican peak: R+56 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+56MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 14,0782024 5-year
- Median household income
- $56,8362024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+34 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+56 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- St. Francois County, MO · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Wetzel CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Wetzel 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 | +17.6% |
| 1896 | +19.8% |
| 1900 | −12.1% |
| 1904 | +6.2% |
| 1908 | +12.1% |
| 1912 | +34.4% |
| 1916 | +18.5% |
| 1920 | +6.2% |
| 1924 | +17.6% |
| 1928 | −4.4% |
| 1932 | +29.0% |
| 1936 | +26.2% |
| 1940 | +11.4% |
| 1944 | +9.2% |
| 1948 | +14.7% |
| 1952 | −1.1% |
| 1956 | −13.8% |
| 1960 | −8.5% |
| 1964 | +32.0% |
| 1968 | −0.9% |
| 1972 | −29.7% |
| 1976 | +14.1% |
| 1980 | +5.6% |
| 1984 | −13.1% |
| 1988 | +7.4% |
| 1992 | +19.5% |
| 1996 | +18.7% |
| 2000 | −6.2% |
| 2004 | −4.6% |
| 2008 | −6.2% |
| 2012 | −21.4% |
| 2016 | −50.1% |
| 2020 | −51.8% |
| 2024 | −55.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,294 | 4,718 | 6,168 | ||
| R | 1,539 | 4,993 | 6,669 | ||
| R | 1,359 | 4,519 | 6,312 | ||
| R | 2,217 | 3,473 | 5,875 | ||
| R | 2,942 | 3,342 | 6,452 | ||
| R | 3,330 | 3,656 | 7,038 | ||
| R | 2,849 | 3,239 | 6,288 | ||
| D | 3,209 | 2,037 | 6,277 | ||
| D | 3,753 | 2,271 | 7,597 | ||
| D | 3,928 | 3,381 | 7,350 | ||
| R | 3,549 | 4,626 | 8,207 | ||
| D | 4,035 | 3,588 | 8,015 | ||
| D | 5,042 | 3,793 | 8,835 | ||
| R | 3,276 | 6,046 | 9,322 | ||
| R | 4,038 | 4,122 | 8,949 | ||
| D | 6,239 | 3,215 | 9,454 | ||
| R | 4,338 | 5,149 | 9,487 | ||
| R | 3,809 | 5,024 | 8,833 | ||
| R | 4,375 | 4,476 | 8,851 | ||
| D | 4,477 | 3,326 | 7,829 | ||
| D | 4,335 | 3,604 | 7,939 | ||
| D | 5,590 | 4,443 | 10,033 | ||
| D | 6,463 | 3,770 | 10,262 | ||
| D | 6,118 | 3,351 | 9,547 | ||
| R | 4,052 | 4,428 | 8,539 | ||
| D | 4,998 | 3,458 | 8,732 | ||
| D | 4,103 | 3,619 | 7,804 | ||
| D | 2,797 | 1,910 | 4,784 | ||
| D | 2,710 | 1,092 | 4,698 | ||
| D | 2,874 | 2,235 | 5,292 | ||
| D | 2,833 | 2,493 | 5,497 | ||
| R | 2,083 | 2,664 | 4,796 | ||
| D | 2,524 | 1,685 | 4,231 | ||
| D | 1,810 | 1,183 | 3,557 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
17.5%
German
17.1%
Irish
12.4%
English
11.4%
Polish
4.0%
Italian
2.7%
Scottish
2.0%
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: 45.3 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
$56,836
Wetzel County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Wetzel County$56,836
West Virginia$59,608
United States$80,734
Wetzel County ranks near the middle 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
16.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.0%
Working age (18–64)15.7%
Seniors (65+)16.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.3%
speak English only
Other Indo-European0.4%
Spanish0.2%
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 54.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Wetzel County, tucked along the Ohio River in the Northern Panhandle, has shifted from a historically Democratic coal-and-gas community to one of the state's most lopsided Republican counties, with the 2024 presidential margin exceeding 55 points.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at thirty-four points in 1912 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 six points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-six points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $56,836 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 16% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of St. Francois County and Harrison 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.
Wetzel County, West Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/54103/. 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 Wetzel County, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wetzel County, West Virginia voted Republican by 55.5 points (R+56), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 6,168 votes cast, 1,294 went Democratic and 4,718 went Republican.
What is Wetzel County, West Virginia's political typology?
Akashic places Wetzel 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 Wetzel County, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wetzel County, West Virginia voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Wetzel County, West Virginia?
Wetzel County, West Virginia has a population of 14,078 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wetzel County, West Virginia?
Median household income in Wetzel County, West Virginia is $56,836 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Wetzel County, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wetzel 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.