Washburn County, Wisconsin: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+28%. Republican peak: R+65 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+28MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 16,8542024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,4412024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+30 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+65 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Yellow Medicine County, MN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Washburn CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Washburn 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 | −21.7% |
| 1896 | −49.5% |
| 1900 | −50.8% |
| 1904 | −61.1% |
| 1908 | −44.5% |
| 1912 | −0.7% |
| 1916 | −17.4% |
| 1920 | −64.6% |
| 1924 | −34.6% |
| 1928 | −41.2% |
| 1932 | +25.8% |
| 1936 | +30.1% |
| 1940 | +1.7% |
| 1944 | −8.4% |
| 1948 | +13.2% |
| 1952 | −21.9% |
| 1956 | −18.2% |
| 1960 | −8.6% |
| 1964 | +26.0% |
| 1968 | −3.0% |
| 1972 | −15.6% |
| 1976 | +11.1% |
| 1980 | −0.3% |
| 1984 | −9.3% |
| 1988 | +4.9% |
| 1992 | +6.4% |
| 1996 | +7.5% |
| 2000 | −2.7% |
| 2004 | −0.6% |
| 2008 | +4.3% |
| 2012 | −2.7% |
| 2016 | −23.4% |
| 2020 | −23.8% |
| 2024 | −28.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,867 | 6,962 | 10,978 | ||
| R | 3,867 | 6,334 | 10,378 | ||
| R | 3,282 | 5,436 | 9,193 | ||
| R | 4,447 | 4,699 | 9,287 | ||
| D | 4,693 | 4,303 | 9,112 | ||
| R | 4,705 | 4,762 | 9,567 | ||
| R | 3,695 | 3,912 | 8,045 | ||
| D | 3,231 | 2,703 | 6,996 | ||
| D | 3,080 | 2,586 | 7,686 | ||
| D | 3,393 | 3,074 | 6,506 | ||
| R | 3,188 | 3,848 | 7,076 | ||
| R | 3,172 | 3,193 | 6,880 | ||
| D | 3,503 | 2,787 | 6,451 | ||
| R | 2,336 | 3,220 | 5,665 | ||
| R | 2,273 | 2,425 | 5,091 | ||
| D | 3,181 | 1,865 | 5,062 | ||
| R | 2,398 | 2,848 | 5,261 | ||
| R | 1,935 | 2,798 | 4,752 | ||
| R | 2,039 | 3,184 | 5,237 | ||
| D | 2,708 | 2,059 | 4,925 | ||
| R | 2,059 | 2,441 | 4,533 | ||
| D | 2,901 | 2,805 | 5,762 | ||
| D | 3,220 | 1,650 | 5,215 | ||
| D | 2,619 | 1,501 | 4,328 | ||
| R | 1,192 | 2,898 | 4,138 | ||
| O | 158 | 1,422 | 3,655 | ||
| R | 352 | 2,023 | 2,585 | ||
| R | 644 | 938 | 1,694 | ||
| O | 398 | 409 | 1,486 | ||
| R | 396 | 1,114 | 1,614 | ||
| R | 207 | 989 | 1,279 | ||
| R | 253 | 808 | 1,092 | ||
| R | 250 | 771 | 1,052 | ||
| R | 305 | 488 | 844 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
32.8%
Irish
10.7%
English
8.7%
Polish
4.6%
American
4.6%
French
2.9%
Italian
2.8%
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: 52.7 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
$63,441
Washburn County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Washburn County$63,441
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Washburn 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
11.5%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.0%
Working age (18–64)10.9%
Seniors (65+)11.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.3%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.2%
Spanish1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
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 70.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Washburn County's roughly 16,000 residents are spread across lake-dotted timberland in northwestern Wisconsin, a region that has shifted steadily rightward over the past decade, delivering a 28-point Republican margin in 2024.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-five points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-eight points.
A population of 16,854, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $63,441 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Yellow Medicine County and Barron 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.
Washburn County, Wisconsin. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/55129/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Washburn County, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Washburn County, Wisconsin voted Republican by 28.2 points (R+28), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,978 votes cast, 3,867 went Democratic and 6,962 went Republican.
What is Washburn County, Wisconsin's political typology?
Akashic places Washburn 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 10 times, Republican 22 times, and other 2 times.
When did Washburn County, Wisconsin last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Washburn County, Wisconsin voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Washburn County, Wisconsin?
Washburn County, Wisconsin has a population of 16,854 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Washburn County, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Washburn County, Wisconsin is $63,441 — below the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Washburn County, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Washburn County, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.