† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
40 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupLexingtonKentuckyUnited States
American15.4%11.5%5.3%
English15.1%14.5%9.5%
Irish10.0%11.0%9.4%
German9.7%12.7%12.5%
Scottish2.0%2.0%1.3%
Italian1.6%2.0%4.8%
Scotch-Irish1.3%0.8%—
French1.1%1.1%1.6%
African American†5.0%6.6%9.9%
African0.2%0.5%0.5%
Mexican2.9%2.4%11.3%
Puerto Rican0.4%0.5%1.8%
Cuban0.2%0.7%0.7%
Honduran0.2%—0.3%
Guatemalan0.2%0.3%0.5%
Chinese0.3%—1.3%
Asian Indian0.2%0.3%1.4%
Nepalese0.2%——
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Lexington
Kentucky
United States
Median age
38.8
39.2
39.1
Age 18–24
10.3%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
16.8%
17.3%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Lexington
Kentucky
United States
Median household income
$60,420
$63,726
$84,427
Poverty rate
18.0%
16.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
29.1%
27.7%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Lexington
Kentucky
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
6.4%
6.8%
22.3%
Spanish
3.3%
3.4%
13.6%
Religious landscape
Measure
Lexington
Kentucky
United States
Catholic
3.1%
7.9%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
33.0%
31.3%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
53.8%
50.7%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
6.1%
5.5%
5.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Lexington, Kentucky
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
+4.8%
1896
−8.7%
1900
−6.3%
1904
−2.7%
1908
−6.0%
1912
+17.2%
1916
−0.6%
1920
−4.0%
1924
−4.5%
1928
−26.4%
1932
+13.2%
1936
+5.3%
1940
+6.3%
1944
+0.0%
1948
+8.8%
1952
−5.0%
1956
−14.8%
1960
−18.1%
1964
+21.5%
1968
−14.9%
1972
−33.6%
1976
+1.5%
1980
−4.9%
1984
−27.9%
1988
−18.3%
1992
−3.9%
1996
−3.3%
2000
−19.1%
2004
−22.5%
2008
−21.8%
2012
−28.8%
2016
−32.6%
2020
−28.1%
2024
−32.2%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
R
33.1%Harris201,068
65.3%Trump397,044
1.7%
R+32.2
R+4.2
R+30.7
608,322
R
35.1%Biden217,264
63.1%Trump391,108
1.8%
R+28.1
D+4.5
R+32.5
619,635
R
31.2%Clinton171,755
63.8%Trump351,048
5.0%
R+32.6
R+3.8
R+34.7
550,084
R
34.7%Obama176,043
63.5%Romney322,089
1.9%
R+28.8
R+6.9
R+32.6
507,622
R
38.4%Obama196,676
60.2%McCain308,590
1.5%
R+21.8
D+0.7
R+29.1
512,788
R
38.3%Kerry195,906
60.9%Bush311,002
0.8%
R+22.5
R+3.4
R+20.1
510,975
R
39.3%Gore169,738
58.4%Bush252,418
2.3%
R+19.1
R+15.9
R+19.7
432,125
R
43.8%Clinton164,842
47.1%Dole177,122
9.0%
R+3.3
D+0.6
R+11.8
375,982
R
40.7%Clinton162,824
44.6%Bush178,467
14.7%
R+3.9
D+14.4
R+9.5
400,233
R
40.5%Dukakis142,101
58.8%Bush206,457
0.8%
R+18.3
D+9.5
R+10.6
351,280
R
35.7%Mondale128,135
63.6%Reagan227,995
0.7%
R+27.9
R+23.0
R+9.6
358,535
R
45.7%Carter156,179
50.6%Reagan172,894
3.8%
R+4.9
R+6.4
D+4.8
341,898
D
50.0%Carter148,239
48.5%Ford143,676
1.5%
D+1.5
D+35.1
R+0.5
296,470
R
32.5%McGovern90,288
66.1%Nixon183,692
1.5%
R+33.6
R+18.6
R+10.4
278,061
R
34.3%Humphrey89,684
49.3%Nixon128,754
16.4%
R+14.9
R+36.4
R+14.2
261,409
D
60.5%Johnson153,943
39.1%Goldwater99,359
0.4%
D+21.5
D+39.6
R+1.1
254,253
R
41.0%Kennedy111,591
59.0%Nixon160,900
0.0%
R+18.1
R+3.3
R+18.3
272,491
R
42.4%Stevenson111,325
57.2%Eisenhower150,307
0.4%
R+14.8
R+9.9
D+0.6
262,794
R
47.4%Stevenson117,428
52.4%Eisenhower129,771
0.2%
R+5.0
R+13.7
D+5.8
247,783
D
53.6%Truman114,564
44.8%Dewey95,831
1.6%
D+8.8
D+8.7
D+4.3
213,914
D
49.8%Roosevelt112,280
49.8%Dewey112,179
0.4%
D+0.04
R+6.3
R+7.4
225,301
D
53.0%Roosevelt136,134
46.7%Willkie119,970
0.2%
D+6.3
D+1.0
R+3.7
256,722
D
52.5%Roosevelt129,316
47.2%Landon116,313
0.3%
D+5.3
R+7.9
R+19.0
246,399
D
56.4%Roosevelt147,074
43.1%Hoover112,562
0.5%
D+13.2
D+39.6
R+4.6
260,920
R
36.8%Smith86,949
63.1%Hoover149,342
0.1%
R+26.4
R+21.8
R+8.9
236,550
R
46.5%Davis99,410
51.1%Coolidge109,105
2.4%
R+4.5
R+0.5
D+20.6
213,676
R
47.7%Cox115,683
51.7%Harding125,474
0.6%
R+4.0
R+3.4
D+22.2
242,577
R
49.2%Wilson69,494
49.8%Hughes70,365
0.9%
R+0.6
R+17.8
R+3.8
141,193
D
49.0%Wilson60,419
31.8%Taft39,206
19.2%
D+17.2
D+23.2
R+2.3
123,325
R
46.2%Bryan62,968
52.2%Taft71,142
1.6%
R+6.0
R+3.3
D+3.6
136,330
R
47.7%Parker57,829
50.4%Roosevelt61,113
1.9%
R+2.7
D+3.6
D+17.0
121,298
R
46.4%Bryan60,889
52.7%McKinley69,185
0.9%
R+6.3
D+2.4
D+1.2
131,321
R
44.5%Bryan54,517
53.2%McKinley65,225
2.3%
R+8.7
R+13.5
R+2.7
122,506
D
49.8%Cleveland46,917
45.0%Harrison42,396
5.2%
D+4.8
—
D+3.1
94,166
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024R+9.4
vs
Presidential vote · 2024R+32.2
Registration leans Republican; the presidential vote runs 23 points more Democratic.
Domestic migration in Lexington in Lexington: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
+3,103
2012
−389
2013
+671
2014
+383
2015
+3,418
2016
+2,512
2017
+2,988
2018
+2,402
2019
+1,343
2021
+2,151
2022
+5,136
2023
+5,061
2024
+4,755
2025
+5,852
The Lexington DMA blends a large university population with surrounding rural counties, producing a media audience that swings measurably younger and more educated than Kentucky's statewide average.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 21.5 points in 1964 and a Republican high of 33.6 points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the market moved 4.2 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 32.2 points.
A population of 1,328,194, a 85% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $60,420 describe the market. The market's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Knoxville and Tri-Cities, TN-VA.
Akashic
Political twins — media markets
The media markets whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
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.
Lexington, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/dma/541/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Embed this page
A live widget for your site — no API key, attribution built in, CC BY 4.0. All widgets & sizes →
In 2024, Lexington, Kentucky voted Republican by 32.2 points (R+32.2), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 608,322 votes cast, 201,068 went Democratic and 397,044 went Republican.
When did Lexington, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lexington, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Lexington, Kentucky?
Lexington, Kentucky has a population of 1,328,194 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lexington, Kentucky?
Median household income in Lexington, Kentucky is $60,420 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Lexington, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Lexington, Kentucky from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 25 went Republican.
