A university town anchored by Southern Illinois University in a rural downstate region
Carbondale's voting patterns diverge sharply from surrounding Jackson County precincts, driven by a student and faculty population at SIU that tilts the city's electorate well left of the region's broader rural baseline.
| Group | Carbondale, IL | National |
|---|---|---|
▶White (Non-Hispanic)(13) | 76.1% | 57.4% |
▶Black / African American(6) | 13.7% | 12.2% |
▶Hispanic / Latino(12) | 3.7% | 19.3% |
▶Asian(5) | 3.5% | 6.0% |
Multiracial / Other | 2.7% | 4.0% |
▶Middle Eastern / North African(6) | 0.6% | 0.9% |
▶Native American / Alaska Native(1) | 0.3% | 0.9% |
Catholic-Evangelical edge: -53.0pp (vs national 4.5pp). A strongly Evangelical-leaning religious profile, which nationally correlates with Republican-leaning rural and exurban communities.
| Tradition | % Pop | % Adherents | US Pop | US Adherents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25.2% | 54.8% | — | — | |
| 8.2% | 17.9% | — | — | |
| 8.1% | 17.6% | — | — | |
| 2.9% | 6.3% | — | — | |
| 1.5% | 3.2% | — | — | |
LDS (Mormon) | 0.9% | 2.1% | — | — |
Non-religiousPopulation | 54.0% | — | — | — |
Who lives in the Carbondale, IL metro area? 230,390 residents across 4 counties.
Scale, voting-age share, and this geography's footprint inside the national electorate.
Income, attainment, and ownership indicators that often shape coalition structure and turnout behavior.
Age structure, language use, and nativity signals that explain how this geography differs from state and nation.
| Offices | Margin A | Margin B | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate vs Governor | D+8.3 | R+0.4 | 8.7pp |