Honestly, looking back at the 2020 state by state election results feels a bit like trying to read a map of a storm after it’s already passed through your town. You remember the wind and the noise, but the actual data—the gritty, county-by-county details—tells a much more nuanced story than the headlines did at the time. We all know the big picture: Joe Biden took the White House with 306 electoral votes to Donald Trump’s 232. But the "how" and "where" are where things get weird.
It wasn't just a simple blue wave. It was more like a series of tiny, localized floods in places nobody expected.
The Big Flips That Decided Everything
If you’re hunting for the "why" behind the results, you’ve gotta start with the states that actually changed hands. Five states that went for Trump in 2016 decided they’d had enough and flipped to Biden in 2020.
- Arizona: This was the first big shocker. Biden won by a razor-thin 0.3% margin (about 10,457 votes). It was the first time a Democrat won the Grand Canyon State since Clinton in '96.
- Georgia: Another heart-stopper. Biden took it by 0.2%, or just under 12,000 votes.
- The "Blue Wall" (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin): These three were the big ones. Biden rebuilt the wall that crumbled in 2016. Michigan was the most comfortable for him (2.8% margin), while Wisconsin was a nail-biter at 0.6%.
Why the Margins Matter So Much
People love to talk about the popular vote—and yeah, Biden won it by over 7 million votes—but the 2020 state by state election results show how irrelevant that can feel. Basically, if you moved just 45,000 votes across Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin, the Electoral College would have ended in a tie or a Trump win. That is terrifyingly close for a country of 330 million people.
In Pennsylvania, the "tipping point" state, Biden won by 1.16%. That’s about 80,000 votes. To put that in perspective, you could fit all those voters into one big football stadium.
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The States That Didn't Budge (But Got Closer)
Not every battleground flipped. Some stayed red but showed some serious cracks. Take Texas, for example. Trump won it by 5.6%. Now, that sounds like a lot, but in 2016 he won it by 9%. The gap is closing.
Florida, on the other hand, went the other way. People thought it would be close, but Trump actually improved his performance there, winning by 3.4% compared to his 1.2% margin in 2016. A lot of that came down to a massive shift in Miami-Dade County, where the Republican message really resonated with Latino voters.
A Quick Breakdown of the Final Count
If you want the raw numbers for the 2020 state by state election results, here is how the heavy hitters stacked up:
The Biden Strongholds:
California gave Biden a massive 5 million vote lead (63.5% of the state). New York and Illinois did their usual thing, staying deep blue. Interestingly, Biden also dominated in formerly "purple" states like Virginia (won by 10.1%) and Colorado (won by 13.5%), which basically aren't swing states anymore.
The Trump Strongholds:
Wyoming was the "reddest" state, with Trump pulling 69.9% of the vote. West Virginia followed closely at 68.6%. He also held onto Ohio and Iowa with comfortable 8% margins, signaling that these former swing states are leaning much further right than they used to.
The Nebraska and Maine Quirk
You can't talk about the 2020 state by state election results without mentioning the weirdos: Nebraska and Maine. They don't do "winner-take-all." They split their votes by congressional district.
In 2020, Biden managed to snag one electoral vote from Nebraska’s 2nd District (the area around Omaha). Meanwhile, Trump grabbed one from Maine’s 2nd District (the more rural, northern part). It’s a tiny detail, but in a close race, those single votes are gold.
What We Can Actually Learn From This
So, what’s the takeaway? Honestly, the 2020 results proved that the "suburban shift" is a real thing. Biden won because he over-performed in the suburbs of Atlanta, Phoenix, and Philadelphia.
At the same time, the results showed that the Republican party is making serious inroads with working-class voters of all races, especially in rural areas. The map is basically a tug-of-war between high-density cities and the vast stretches of land between them.
Actionable Insights from the 2020 Data:
- Check your registration early: Margins of 10,000 votes mean your individual ballot actually does carry weight in a swing state.
- Look at the "Trends," not just the "Wins": If a state is getting 3% bluer or redder every four years, that’s where the future battles will be fought.
- Ignore the National Polls: They don't account for the Electoral College math. Focus on the state-level data in the seven or eight states that actually flip.
- Volunteer locally: If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that ground games in places like Maricopa County or Fulton County decide the presidency.
To see the full, certified spreadsheet of every single vote cast, you should head over to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website or the National Archives. They have the final, boring-but-accurate numbers that don't involve cable news pundits yelling at you.