When the dust finally settles after a massive election, everyone starts asking the same thing: did people actually show up? You've seen the headlines. Some say turnout was "historic," while others claim it was a "disappointment." Honestly, the truth is usually buried somewhere in the middle of a messy spreadsheet at the Census Bureau.
So, let's get into it. What percentage of the United States voted in the most recent 2024 presidential election?
According to the official numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2025, about 65.3% of the citizen voting-age population actually cast a ballot. That’s roughly 154 million people. If you’re looking at just the people who were actually registered, that number jumps up to about 88%.
But here’s the kicker: while 2024 felt like the center of the universe, it actually saw a slight dip from the 2020 record of 66.6%. People were still fired up, but maybe a little less than they were when they were stuck at home during the pandemic with nothing to do but mail in a ballot.
Why 2024 Broke the Mold (Sorta)
We usually think of voter turnout as this steady climb or a boring flat line. It isn't. Not even close.
The 2024 election was actually the second-highest turnout we've seen since 1960. Think about that. Even with a 1.5 percentage point drop from 2020, we are living through a period of intense political engagement. Before the 2018 midterms, a lot of people basically treated voting like a dental appointment—something they knew they should do but often skipped. Now? It's a national obsession.
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The Great Divide: Who Showed Up?
Numbers are kinda cold, so let's look at the actual humans. The Census Bureau and Pew Research Center found some wild discrepancies in who decided to trek to the polls and who stayed on the couch.
- Gender: Women continue to carry the load. About 66.9% of eligible women voted, compared to 63.7% of men. This isn't a new thing; men haven't out-voted women in a presidential election since 1976.
- Education: This is probably the biggest predictor of all. If you have an advanced degree, there’s an 82.5% chance you voted. If you only finished high school? That number drops to 52.5%. It’s a massive gap that shapes everything in D.C.
- Age: The kids are... well, they’re still not voting as much as the seniors. Only about 47.7% of the 18-24 crowd showed up. Meanwhile, the 65+ demographic came in at a staggering 74.7%.
The Battle of the States
Where you live matters just as much as who you are. If you live in a state where voting is as easy as ordering a pizza, the percentages reflect that.
Minnesota, as usual, was a powerhouse. They consistently hit near the 75% or 76% mark. Oregon and Washington DC also saw huge numbers, often crossing that 75% threshold for the citizen voting-age population.
Then you have the other end of the spectrum. In places like Arkansas, Texas, and Hawaii, the percentage of the United States voted metric looks a lot different. In 2024, Arkansas saw about 53.5% turnout. Hawaii often hovers near the 50% mark. Why? It's a mix of factors—voter ID laws, lack of competitive races, and historical patterns of "why bother?"
Method of Choice: Mail-in vs. In-Person
Remember when everyone thought mail-in voting was a one-time COVID fluke? It wasn't. But it did change. In 2020, almost half of the country voted by mail. By 2024, that shifted back toward the old ways, but not entirely.
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- In-person on Election Day: 39.6%
- In-person early: 30.7%
- By mail: 29.0%
Early voting has basically doubled in popularity since 2018. People like the convenience. Honestly, once you’ve voted on a random Tuesday morning without a line, it’s hard to go back to standing in the rain on a Tuesday night.
The Mystery of the Non-Voter
We talk a lot about who voted, but what about the 34.7% who didn't? Pew Research found that these "non-voters" are a fascinating group. They aren't just "lazy."
In 2024, non-voters were actually quite split. About 44% of them said they would have preferred Donald Trump, while 40% would have gone for Kamala Harris. This is a huge shift from 2020, when non-voters were overwhelmingly pro-Biden. It turns out that a lot of the people who stayed home in 2024 were actually younger, lower-income, and less educated—demographics that shifted significantly toward the Republican platform this cycle.
Historical Perspective: How We Compare
If you go back to the 1800s, voter turnout was insane. In 1876, about 81.8% of the population voted. Of course, "the population" back then was mostly white men, so the denominator was a lot smaller.
Once we expanded the right to vote to women and Black Americans, the raw number of voters went up, but the percentage often dipped because the eligible pool grew so much faster than the infrastructure to get people to the polls. The 1920s and 1990s were particularly "low" points, with the 1996 election between Clinton and Dole hitting a measly 49.8% turnout.
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Compared to that, our current era of 63-66% is actually a high-water mark for modern American democracy.
Putting the Data to Use
So, what does this actually mean for you? If you’re a campaigner, you stop chasing the "likely voter" and start looking at the "unlikely" ones who only show up every four years. If you’re a citizen, you realize that your vote carries more weight in some demographics than others.
Actionable Insights to Take Away:
- Check the "Voter Turnout by State" stats before you assume a state is "unreachable." Often, a "Red" or "Blue" state is really just a "low turnout" state where a few thousand more people could flip the script.
- Focus on the midterms. Presidential years get all the glory, but the 2022 midterms only had 46.2% turnout. That means a single vote in a midterm is statistically more "powerful" than one in a presidential year.
- Don't ignore the "Education Gap." If you're involved in community organizing, the data shows that the biggest untapped group of voters are those with a high school education or less.
- Early voting is the new normal. If you're still waiting until Tuesday to vote, you're in the minority. Check your local laws for early in-person dates to avoid the rush.
Understanding what percentage of the United States voted gives us a clear-eyed look at the health of the republic. We’re more engaged than our parents were in the 80s and 90s, but we still have a long way to go before we hit those 19th-century highs.