Vilas County, Wisconsin: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+23%. Republican peak: R+62 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+23MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 23,6472024 5-year
- Median household income
- $68,4312024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+30 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+62 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Medina County, OH · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Vilas CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Vilas 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 | No data |
| 1896 | −25.6% |
| 1900 | −41.3% |
| 1904 | −61.7% |
| 1908 | −46.6% |
| 1912 | +2.5% |
| 1916 | −5.8% |
| 1920 | −47.4% |
| 1924 | −36.4% |
| 1928 | −19.1% |
| 1932 | +27.1% |
| 1936 | +30.4% |
| 1940 | +4.6% |
| 1944 | +1.4% |
| 1948 | −21.4% |
| 1952 | −42.1% |
| 1956 | −48.6% |
| 1960 | −28.7% |
| 1964 | +0.2% |
| 1968 | −26.8% |
| 1972 | −37.5% |
| 1976 | −20.7% |
| 1980 | −27.6% |
| 1984 | −33.5% |
| 1988 | −21.2% |
| 1992 | −7.6% |
| 1996 | −2.6% |
| 2000 | −18.3% |
| 2004 | −17.4% |
| 2008 | −4.1% |
| 2012 | −13.0% |
| 2016 | −25.0% |
| 2020 | −21.8% |
| 2024 | −23.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 6,119 | 9,837 | 16,135 | ||
| R | 5,903 | 9,261 | 15,369 | ||
| R | 4,770 | 8,166 | 13,611 | ||
| R | 5,951 | 7,749 | 13,842 | ||
| R | 6,491 | 7,055 | 13,750 | ||
| R | 5,713 | 8,155 | 14,002 | ||
| R | 4,706 | 6,958 | 12,322 | ||
| R | 4,226 | 4,496 | 10,445 | ||
| R | 3,764 | 4,616 | 11,262 | ||
| R | 3,781 | 5,842 | 9,722 | ||
| R | 2,940 | 5,965 | 9,026 | ||
| R | 3,293 | 6,034 | 9,924 | ||
| R | 3,209 | 4,929 | 8,312 | ||
| R | 1,907 | 4,422 | 6,708 | ||
| R | 1,798 | 3,339 | 5,745 | ||
| D | 2,841 | 2,827 | 5,679 | ||
| R | 1,942 | 3,508 | 5,460 | ||
| R | 1,267 | 3,683 | 4,972 | ||
| R | 1,497 | 3,687 | 5,204 | ||
| R | 1,688 | 2,665 | 4,571 | ||
| D | 2,079 | 2,021 | 4,132 | ||
| D | 2,470 | 2,251 | 4,798 | ||
| D | 2,559 | 1,298 | 4,145 | ||
| D | 2,036 | 1,138 | 3,319 | ||
| R | 1,083 | 1,609 | 2,753 | ||
| O | 119 | 873 | 2,073 | ||
| R | 255 | 903 | 1,367 | ||
| R | 467 | 531 | 1,096 | ||
| D | 327 | 304 | 923 | ||
| R | 278 | 794 | 1,107 | ||
| R | 322 | 1,467 | 1,855 | ||
| R | 488 | 1,208 | 1,744 | ||
| R | 443 | 754 | 1,216 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
38.7%
Irish
11.4%
Polish
10.2%
English
6.9%
American
3.1%
Italian
2.9%
French
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: 55.7 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
$68,431
Vilas County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Vilas County$68,431
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Vilas 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
11.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.5%
Working age (18–64)9.8%
Seniors (65+)7.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.0%
Spanish0.9%
Other languages0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 65.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Vilas County's lake-studded landscape draws seasonal visitors and retirees, sustaining a small, predominantly white rural population that has backed Republican presidential candidates by double digits for over two decades.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-two points in 1904. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-three points.
A population of 23,647, a 85% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $68,431 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Medina County and Steuben 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.
Vilas County, Wisconsin. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/55125/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Vilas County, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Vilas County, Wisconsin voted Republican by 23.0 points (R+23), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,135 votes cast, 6,119 went Democratic and 9,837 went Republican.
What is Vilas County, Wisconsin's political typology?
Akashic places Vilas 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 6 times, Republican 26 times, and other 1 times.
When did Vilas County, Wisconsin last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Vilas County, Wisconsin voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Vilas County, Wisconsin?
Vilas County, Wisconsin has a population of 23,647 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Vilas County, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Vilas County, Wisconsin is $68,431 — below the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Vilas County, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Vilas County, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.