akashic
1876–2024
Polk County, Georgia
Polk County·Georgia

Polk County changed its political identity.

One of Georgia's most Republican-leaning counties by presidential margin

18762024·38 elections
Polk County, Georgia · The original uploader was Karlward at English Wikipedia. · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+60
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
43,785
2024 ACS
Most similar
Heard County
GA · similarity 1.00
7 precincts · 19,199 votes cast
Trump · R+60
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−60.4%
3,74915,35219,199
2020R
−57.1%
3,65813,58917,399
2016R
−57.1%
2,86711,01414,275
2012R
−45.4%
3,6159,81113,648
2008R
−41.1%
4,0529,85014,113
2004R
−37.0%
3,8688,46712,420
2000R
−17.1%
4,1125,84110,116
1996D
+1.8%
4,2984,1309,550
1992D
+6.7%
4,8724,15810,668
1988R
−29.3%
2,9775,4548,461
1984R
−25.0%
3,2625,4358,697
1980D
+28.9%
5,4212,9498,562
1976D
+51.8%
6,1151,9448,059
1972R
−57.8%
1,3174,9296,246
1968D
+3.5%
2,0071,7297,976
1964D
+16.2%
4,5553,2827,840
1960D
+42.7%
4,3511,7466,097
1956D
+36.4%
4,5022,0986,600
1952D
+54.8%
4,4471,2995,746
1948D
+65.5%
2,9184913,706
1944D
+70.7%
2,6984633,161
1940D
+73.8%
2,6934013,104
1936D
+75.2%
2,7543893,147
1932D
+82.3%
2,1702112,381
1928R
−24.5%
8861,4622,348
1924D
+22.3%
8034811,441
1920R
−20.8%
6581,0041,662
1916D
+62.2%
1,17201,885
1912D
+52.1%
706361,286
1908R
−27.6%
4929011,480
1904R
−2.4%
6536891,516
1900R
−34.2%
4901,0191,547
1896R
−17.1%
5678101,425
1892D
+23.0%
7483911,554
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%
African American
9.5%
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
Baptist
37.9%
Catholic & Orthodox
11.9%
Other Christian
8.3%
Methodist
2.9%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.8%
Mainline Protestant
0.7%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 36.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Polk County, a rural Piedmont community of roughly 38,000, recorded an R+60.5 presidential margin in 2024, placing it among the most one-sided counties in a state whose statewide results have grown increasingly competitive.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Polk County peaked at eighty-two points in 1932; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2000 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of seventeen points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Polk County's median household income of $58,515 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 16% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Heard County and La Paz County.