Portage County, Wisconsin: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted D+1%. Democratic peak: D+45 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+1MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 70,8322024 5-year
- Median household income
- $76,0702024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+45 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+34 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Ashland County, WI · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Portage CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Portage 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 | +5.5% |
| 1896 | −9.8% |
| 1900 | −10.8% |
| 1904 | −24.6% |
| 1908 | −15.7% |
| 1912 | +6.9% |
| 1916 | +8.5% |
| 1920 | −34.0% |
| 1924 | −8.2% |
| 1928 | +13.4% |
| 1932 | +44.9% |
| 1936 | +44.5% |
| 1940 | +28.1% |
| 1944 | +23.2% |
| 1948 | +19.8% |
| 1952 | −6.0% |
| 1956 | −8.5% |
| 1960 | +24.0% |
| 1964 | +44.3% |
| 1968 | +22.4% |
| 1972 | +18.1% |
| 1976 | +24.4% |
| 1980 | +19.5% |
| 1984 | +2.8% |
| 1988 | +14.9% |
| 1992 | +13.8% |
| 1996 | +21.0% |
| 2000 | +14.0% |
| 2004 | +13.6% |
| 2008 | +27.9% |
| 2012 | +13.9% |
| 2016 | +3.2% |
| 2020 | +2.8% |
| 2024 | +1.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 21,503 | 20,987 | 43,258 | ||
| D | 20,428 | 19,299 | 40,603 | ||
| D | 18,529 | 17,305 | 38,589 | ||
| D | 22,075 | 16,615 | 39,337 | ||
| D | 24,817 | 13,810 | 39,422 | ||
| D | 21,861 | 16,546 | 38,961 | ||
| D | 17,942 | 13,214 | 33,760 | ||
| D | 15,901 | 9,631 | 29,928 | ||
| D | 15,553 | 10,914 | 33,716 | ||
| D | 16,317 | 12,057 | 28,535 | ||
| D | 14,399 | 13,605 | 28,179 | ||
| D | 16,443 | 10,465 | 30,702 | ||
| D | 15,912 | 9,520 | 26,237 | ||
| D | 13,564 | 9,346 | 23,341 | ||
| D | 10,014 | 6,180 | 17,121 | ||
| D | 11,887 | 4,579 | 16,498 | ||
| D | 10,516 | 6,436 | 16,972 | ||
| R | 7,010 | 8,320 | 15,386 | ||
| R | 7,537 | 8,499 | 16,087 | ||
| D | 8,154 | 5,424 | 13,791 | ||
| D | 8,678 | 5,405 | 14,125 | ||
| D | 10,148 | 5,670 | 15,912 | ||
| D | 10,576 | 3,969 | 14,844 | ||
| D | 9,195 | 3,434 | 12,820 | ||
| D | 6,764 | 5,161 | 11,995 | ||
| O | 2,010 | 2,854 | 10,280 | ||
| R | 2,656 | 5,527 | 8,452 | ||
| D | 3,000 | 2,520 | 5,660 | ||
| D | 2,301 | 1,932 | 5,312 | ||
| R | 2,362 | 3,269 | 5,794 | ||
| R | 2,168 | 3,633 | 5,947 | ||
| R | 2,633 | 3,285 | 6,016 | ||
| R | 2,890 | 3,537 | 6,573 | ||
| D | 2,570 | 2,291 | 5,119 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
37.5%
Polish
27.8%
Irish
10.9%
English
7.0%
American
5.0%
Italian
2.6%
French
2.2%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 38.0 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
$76,070
Portage County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Portage County$76,070
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Portage County ranks in the top 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
10.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1810.5%
Working age (18–64)10.3%
Seniors (65+)6.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.2%
speak English only
Spanish2.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.9%
Other Indo-European0.7%
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 53.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Portage County sits at a demographic crossroads where a college-town core moderates the surrounding rural conservative lean, producing margins that have flipped repeatedly over the past two decades.
The Republican margin here reached thirty-four points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was one point.
A population of 70,832, a 90% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $76,070 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Ashland County and Genesee 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.
Portage County, Wisconsin. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/55097/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Portage County, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Portage County, Wisconsin voted Democratic by 1.2 points (D+1), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 43,258 votes cast, 21,503 went Democratic and 20,987 went Republican.
What is Portage County, Wisconsin's political typology?
Akashic places Portage County, Wisconsin in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. 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 26 times, Republican 7 times, and other 1 times.
When did Portage County, Wisconsin last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Portage County, Wisconsin voted Republican was 1956.
How many people live in Portage County, Wisconsin?
Portage County, Wisconsin has a population of 70,832 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Portage County, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Portage County, Wisconsin is $76,070 — below the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Portage County, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Portage County, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 26 went Democratic and 7 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.