Buffalo County, Wisconsin: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+30%. Republican peak: R+77 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+30MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 13,3932024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,4792024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+31 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+77 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Day County, SD · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Buffalo CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Buffalo 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 | −4.2% |
| 1896 | −26.9% |
| 1900 | −26.4% |
| 1904 | −39.4% |
| 1908 | −29.9% |
| 1912 | −15.4% |
| 1916 | −17.0% |
| 1920 | −77.1% |
| 1924 | −28.7% |
| 1928 | −24.3% |
| 1932 | +30.6% |
| 1936 | +15.4% |
| 1940 | −23.1% |
| 1944 | −27.2% |
| 1948 | +4.3% |
| 1952 | −36.0% |
| 1956 | −19.8% |
| 1960 | −10.8% |
| 1964 | +27.3% |
| 1968 | −15.9% |
| 1972 | −10.9% |
| 1976 | +9.4% |
| 1980 | −3.9% |
| 1984 | −6.4% |
| 1988 | +11.1% |
| 1992 | +13.9% |
| 1996 | +15.9% |
| 2000 | +3.0% |
| 2004 | +6.5% |
| 2008 | +14.7% |
| 2012 | +2.9% |
| 2016 | −21.8% |
| 2020 | −25.3% |
| 2024 | −30.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,765 | 5,213 | 8,100 | ||
| R | 2,860 | 4,834 | 7,816 | ||
| R | 2,525 | 4,048 | 6,981 | ||
| D | 3,570 | 3,364 | 7,039 | ||
| D | 3,949 | 2,923 | 7,000 | ||
| D | 3,998 | 3,502 | 7,591 | ||
| D | 3,237 | 3,038 | 6,641 | ||
| D | 2,681 | 1,800 | 5,557 | ||
| D | 2,996 | 2,029 | 6,950 | ||
| D | 3,481 | 2,783 | 6,313 | ||
| R | 2,921 | 3,325 | 6,304 | ||
| R | 3,276 | 3,569 | 7,418 | ||
| D | 3,448 | 2,844 | 6,427 | ||
| R | 2,461 | 3,079 | 5,660 | ||
| R | 2,112 | 2,992 | 5,519 | ||
| D | 3,663 | 2,091 | 5,759 | ||
| R | 2,790 | 3,464 | 6,256 | ||
| R | 2,266 | 3,387 | 5,661 | ||
| R | 1,988 | 4,233 | 6,232 | ||
| D | 2,563 | 2,350 | 4,993 | ||
| R | 1,948 | 3,416 | 5,406 | ||
| R | 2,516 | 4,056 | 6,675 | ||
| D | 3,434 | 2,481 | 6,194 | ||
| D | 3,252 | 1,711 | 5,028 | ||
| R | 1,836 | 3,027 | 4,892 | ||
| O | 176 | 1,324 | 4,006 | ||
| R | 299 | 3,082 | 3,609 | ||
| R | 1,043 | 1,492 | 2,639 | ||
| R | 848 | 1,239 | 2,547 | ||
| R | 1,027 | 1,937 | 3,040 | ||
| R | 911 | 2,147 | 3,141 | ||
| R | 1,205 | 2,091 | 3,351 | ||
| R | 1,302 | 2,301 | 3,718 | ||
| R | 1,393 | 1,523 | 3,079 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
40.8%
Polish
11.4%
Irish
7.8%
English
4.8%
American
3.8%
French
1.9%
Italian
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: 46.5 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
$70,479
Buffalo County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Buffalo County$70,479
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Buffalo 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
8.4%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 188.7%
Working age (18–64)7.3%
Seniors (65+)15.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.2%
speak English only
Spanish1.8%
Other Indo-European0.8%
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 49.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Buffalo County sits along the Mississippi River bluffs in western Wisconsin, and its small farming communities have shifted steadily rightward over the past decade — the 2024 presidential margin of R+30.2 reflects a pattern common to rural dairying counties statewide.
The Democratic margin here peaked at thirty-one points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty points.
A population of 13,393, a 94% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $70,479 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Day County and Pepin 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.
Buffalo County, Wisconsin. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/55011/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Buffalo County, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Buffalo County, Wisconsin voted Republican by 30.2 points (R+30), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,100 votes cast, 2,765 went Democratic and 5,213 went Republican.
What is Buffalo County, Wisconsin's political typology?
Akashic places Buffalo County, Wisconsin in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. 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 12 times, Republican 21 times, and other 1 times.
When did Buffalo County, Wisconsin last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Buffalo County, Wisconsin voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Buffalo County, Wisconsin?
Buffalo County, Wisconsin has a population of 13,393 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Buffalo County, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Buffalo County, Wisconsin is $70,479 — below the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Buffalo County, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Buffalo County, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.