akashic
1876–2024
Wirt County, West Virginia
Wirt County·West Virginia

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

One of West Virginia's least-populous counties, tilting sharply red

18762024·38 elections
Wirt County, West Virginia · Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+66
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
5,053
2024 ACS
Most similar
Sibley County
MN · similarity 1.00
10 precincts · 2,581 votes cast
Trump · R+66
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−66.3%
4092,1202,581
2020R
−62.9%
4662,1342,653
2016R
−63.0%
3861,9112,422
2012R
−34.6%
6761,4272,171
2008R
−30.7%
7821,4962,324
2004R
−31.3%
8961,7272,654
2000R
−29.4%
8181,5182,382
1996R
−1.0%
9069282,131
1992D
+4.4%
1,0439392,382
1988R
−9.5%
9291,1252,066
1984R
−25.1%
8681,4502,322
1980R
−5.1%
1,0581,1762,293
1976D
+6.8%
1,1821,0312,213
1972R
−35.2%
6911,4422,133
1968R
−11.5%
8201,0512,011
1964D
+17.7%
1,2868992,185
1960R
−12.6%
1,0451,3472,392
1956R
−9.9%
1,1841,4442,628
1952R
−16.8%
1,0501,4742,524
1948R
−2.3%
1,2331,2912,532
1944R
−9.6%
1,1701,4182,588
1940R
−7.8%
1,5541,8183,372
1936D
+5.0%
1,7831,6123,413
1932D
+13.2%
1,9441,4863,476
1928R
−10.1%
1,2721,5612,869
1924D
+3.1%
1,5871,4913,104
1920R
−9.9%
1,3761,6803,061
1916D
+5.9%
1,0729512,035
1912D
+37.8%
9532131,956
1908D
+0.7%
1,0421,0282,106
1904R
−1.6%
1,0981,1342,264
1900D
+3.3%
1,2351,1572,392
1896D
+4.1%
1,1591,0682,241
1892D
+8.9%
1,1109262,069
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.
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
20.5%
Methodist
5.9%
Other Christian
3.0%
Catholic & Orthodox
2.0%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.7%
Mainline Protestant
0.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 66.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Wirt County, tucked along the Little Kanawha River, has fewer than 6,000 residents and delivered one of West Virginia's widest 2024 presidential margins, reflecting the broader rural realignment that has reshaped the state over the past two decades.

The Democratic margin in Wirt County peaked at thirty-eight points in 1912. By 1996 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-six points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Wirt County's median household income of $49,867 sits well below state and national norms, and 17% 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 Sibley County and Harrison County.