akashic
1876–2024
Rio Blanco County, Colorado
Rio Blanco County·Colorado

Rio Blanco County was solidly one party for decades. In the last twenty years, it flipped.

One of Colorado's most lopsided presidential counties by raw margin

18762024·38 elections
Rio Blanco County, Colorado · Jeffrey Beall · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+64
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
6,544
2024 ACS
Most similar
Duchesne County
UT · similarity 1.00
5 precincts · 3,692 votes cast
Trump · R+64
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−63.7%
6372,9883,692
2020R
−67.7%
5613,0613,691
2016R
−68.3%
4362,7913,450
2012R
−64.0%
5682,7243,369
2008R
−56.6%
6552,4373,147
2004R
−61.2%
5662,4033,003
2000R
−57.5%
5432,1852,855
1996R
−35.6%
7311,6972,715
1992R
−15.9%
7781,2312,850
1988R
−38.2%
8031,8212,662
1984R
−62.5%
4842,1312,637
1980R
−57.0%
4621,9712,647
1976R
−37.9%
6271,4392,140
1972R
−57.1%
4141,5862,053
1968R
−39.5%
5021,2942,003
1964D
+5.5%
1,1341,0152,152
1960R
−27.3%
7941,3912,188
1956R
−43.0%
6351,5932,229
1952R
−43.4%
6331,6122,257
1948R
−13.1%
7529811,751
1944R
−32.2%
4518811,337
1940R
−31.5%
5301,0211,559
1936R
−16.3%
5878301,488
1932D
+9.0%
8266871,545
1928R
−32.8%
4298601,313
1924R
−28.5%
4077661,259
1920R
−26.5%
4557931,274
1916D
+19.7%
7024681,186
1912D
+14.8%
5383721,119
1908D
+9.4%
466384873
1904R
−16.9%
391552950
1900D
+17.0%
391276675
1896D
+79.3%
45452507
1892R
−36.3%
0127350
1888
No data
1884
No data
1880
No data
1876
No data
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
100.0%
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. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
0.0%
speak English only
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Other Christian
20.3%
Methodist
4.9%
Baptist
2.2%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.9%
Mainline Protestant
1.6%
Catholic & Orthodox
1.1%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 68.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Rio Blanco's economy is anchored by oil and gas extraction in the Piceance Basin, and its sparse, rural population has delivered Republican presidential margins above 60 points in recent cycles — among the widest in the state.

The Democratic margin in Rio Blanco County peaked at seventy-nine points in 1896. By 1968 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-four points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Rio Blanco County's median household income of $65,473 sits well below state and national norms, and 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Duchesne County and Lincoln County.