Honestly, the numbers from the last few years are still a little hard to wrap your head around. We talk about "the popular vote" like it's just one big number, but when you look at what actually went down in 2020, it was more like a massive, nationwide surge that we haven't seen in over a century. People weren't just voting; they were showing up in ways that broke almost every record on the books.
So, what was the popular vote in the 2020 election when all the dust finally settled?
Joe Biden ended up with 81,283,501 votes.
Donald Trump brought in 74,223,975 votes.
If you're doing the math, that’s a gap of about 7 million votes. Specifically, 7,059,526. To put that in perspective, that’s like the entire population of Arizona deciding to lean one way. Biden took home 51.3% of the total vote, while Trump snagged 46.8%.
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Why the 2020 Popular Vote Was Actually Historic
It wasn’t just about who won. It was about how many people actually bothered to cast a ballot. We're talking about a 66.8% turnout rate among eligible citizens. You have to go all the way back to the 1908 election—when Taft was running—to see that kind of participation.
Basically, 158.4 million people voted. In 2016, that number was closer to 137 million. That's a jump of 21 million people in just four years. Think about that for a second. Despite a global pandemic and all the chaos of 2020, more people found a way to the polls (or the mailbox) than ever before in American history.
The Biden Side of the Ledger
Joe Biden didn't just win; he set the record for the most votes ever cast for a single candidate. He surpassed Barack Obama's 2008 record by more than 11 million votes.
The Trump Side of the Ledger
Here’s the part that gets lost in the "winner takes all" narrative: Donald Trump also broke records. He received more votes than any sitting president in history. He actually grew his support from 2016 by about 11 million votes. Usually, when a candidate gains that much ground, they win. 2020 was just different because the other side grew even faster.
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Breaking Down the "Other" Votes
While the headlines stay on the big two, nearly 3 million people looked at the ballot and chose "none of the above."
- Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian): 1,865,724 votes (1.18%)
- Howie Hawkins (Green Party): 405,035 votes (0.26%)
- Kanye West: Yes, he was on the ballot in several states and pulled about 66,000 votes.
It's a small slice of the pie, but in a race where a few thousand votes in a few states change everything, these third-party numbers always end up being a talking point for political junkies.
The Popular Vote vs. The Electoral College
We have to talk about the "quirk" of the American system. You can win the popular vote by millions and still have the race come down to a razor-thin margin where it actually matters.
Even though Biden won by 7 million votes nationally, the Electoral College was decided by much smaller pockets. If you look at just three states—Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin—the margin was only about 43,000 votes combined. If those 43,000 people had gone the other way, the Electoral College would have been a 269-269 tie, despite that 7-million-vote lead in the popular count.
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It’s a weird reality of our politics. The popular vote in the 2020 election tells us what the "mood" of the country was, but the state-by-state tallies are what actually put someone in the Oval Office.
Where the Surges Happened
If you want to know why the popular vote went the way it did, you have to look at the suburbs and the cities.
Biden did incredibly well in "the rings" around major cities like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee. Women, in particular, turned out at a rate of 68.4%, compared to 65% for men. We also saw a massive spike in Asian American turnout, which jumped about 10 percentage points compared to 2016.
On the flip side, Trump saw a huge surge in "non-college white" voters. Their turnout hit 64%, the highest it’s been in decades. He also made surprising gains with Latino voters in places like Florida’s Miami-Dade County and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, which helped keep the national percentage closer than some pollsters expected.
Moving Forward: What This Means for You
Understanding the 2020 popular vote isn't just a history lesson; it's a roadmap for how elections work now.
- Check your registration early. Since 2020, many states have changed their voting laws. What worked for you four years ago might be different now.
- Look at the margins, not just the totals. If you live in a "swing state," your individual vote carries a statistically higher weight in the Electoral College, but the popular vote is the only true measure of the national consensus.
- Don't ignore the "down-ballot" races. While the 158 million people were there for the President, those same ballots decided local sheriffs, judges, and school boards that affect your daily life way more than the person in D.C.
The 2020 election proved that the American electorate is more engaged than it has been in a century. Whether that's because of polarization or passion, the sheer volume of 158 million voices is something that reshaped the political landscape forever.