Everyone has an opinion on who showed up at the polls last year, but the hard data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Pew Research Center tells a much more nuanced story than the cable news snippets might suggest. Honestly, if you just looked at social media, you’d think the electorate was a monolith. It wasn't.
The 2024 election was a bit of a statistical rollercoaster. We saw the second-highest turnout rate in over sixty years—65.3% of the citizen voting-age population actually cast a ballot. That’s about 154 million people. It’s a huge number, but interestingly, it's a 1.5 percentage point dip from the record-breaking heights of 2020. People are still voting in droves, just slightly less than during the peak pandemic-era election.
Women Still Lead the Way in Turnout
If there is one rule in American politics that seems almost unbreakable, it’s that women vote more than men. They just do.
In 2024, the percentage of voters by race and gender showed a familiar gap: 66.9% of women turned out, while men trailed behind at 63.7%. This isn't a new thing. Women have been out-registering and out-voting men in every single presidential election since 1980. Basically, the "gender gap" in participation isn't just about who people vote for, but who bothers to show up.
This gap gets even weirder when you look at age. Among the youngest voters (18–24), the gender gap was 7.1 points—the widest it’s been since the mid-90s. Young women are significantly more engaged than their male counterparts. However, that trend flips once you hit the 65+ crowd. In that bracket, men actually turn out at higher rates than women. It's like the habit of voting shifts as we age.
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Breaking Down the Percentages by Race
When we talk about the percentage of voters by race and gender, the numbers vary wildly. White, non-Hispanic citizens had the highest turnout rate at 70.5%. While that's a slight drop from 2020, they remain the most consistent voting bloc.
Black voters followed with a 59.6% turnout rate. That was a 3.0 percentage point decline from four years ago, which is significant when you’re talking about millions of people. Hispanic voters, on the other hand, saw the biggest drop-off. Only 50.6% of eligible Hispanic citizens voted, a 3.1% decline.
The story of 2024 wasn't just about who showed up, though—it was about how they shifted. For example:
- Black Voters: Trump’s support among Black voters doubled, jumping from 8% in 2020 to roughly 15-16% in 2024.
- Hispanic Voters: This was the real shocker for many. Trump reached near parity here, with 46-48% of the vote compared to Harris's 51%.
- Asian Voters: Harris won the majority (57%), but Trump’s share climbed to 40%, a ten-point jump from his 2020 performance.
The Intersection of Race and Gender in Choice
You can't just look at race alone. Gender complicates everything.
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Take Black voters. There’s a massive divide there. About 24% of Black men supported Trump, but only 9% of Black women did. Black women remain the most loyal Democratic base, with roughly 9 in 10 casting ballots for Harris.
With Latino voters, the split was also sharp: 47% of Latino men went for Trump, while only 38% of Latina women did the same.
Then you have White voters. White men supported Trump at a rate of 59-60%. White women? 53%. People often assume White women are a "swing" group, but they’ve actually backed the Republican candidate in every election for decades. 2024 was no different.
Education: The Great Divider
While race and gender get the headlines, education is the secret engine behind these percentages. If you have an advanced degree, you probably voted—82.5% of that group did. If you only have a high school diploma, that number drops to 52.5%.
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This creates a "diploma divide" that cuts through racial lines. Trump held huge advantages among voters without a college degree, regardless of their background. This helped him build a more racially diverse coalition than any Republican in recent history, primarily by appealing to working-class voters of all races.
Key Insights and Actionable Steps
Understanding the percentage of voters by race and gender helps us see where the "civic desert" is. If you're involved in community organizing or just want to be a more informed citizen, here is what the data suggests focusing on:
- Closing the Youth Gap: Young men are opting out of the system at higher rates than young women. Programs that focus on civic engagement specifically for young men could change the math of the 2028 cycle.
- Addressing the Hispanic Participation Cliff: With barely half of eligible Hispanic citizens voting, there is a massive untapped electorate. Barriers like language or simple "disinterest" (cited by 26% of non-voters in the West) need to be addressed.
- Local Matters: High-turnout states like Minnesota (75.9%) and Oregon (75.3%) often have easier registration and mail-in options. If you want to see these percentages rise in your area, looking at state-level voting laws is the most effective lever.
- Beyond the Binary: Don't assume someone's vote based on one demographic tag. The "working-class" shift in 2024 proved that economic concerns can override traditional racial voting patterns.
The data shows an electorate that is becoming more diverse in its thinking, even if the total number of people showing up took a small step back. Relying on the Census Bureau’s final tables is the only way to get the full picture without the "exit poll" noise that usually muddies the water on election night.