It feels like forever ago that we were all glued to those red and blue maps, but the dust has finally settled on the data. If you’re looking for the short answer: 49.8% of the popular vote went to Donald Trump in 2024.
That number is actually a pretty big deal. For the first time in twenty years, a Republican candidate walked away with the popular vote. The last time that happened was George W. Bush back in 2004. Honestly, most of the "experts" didn't see it coming. They expected the Electoral College to be the decider, but Trump ended up with a plurality of the national vote, too. Basically, out of the 154 million-ish people who showed up, roughly 77.3 million punched the ticket for him.
Breaking Down What Percentage Voted For Trump 2024
When you dig into the spreadsheets—and yeah, the FEC and Census Bureau have been busy—the story isn't just about one big number. It's about how the map shifted in places nobody expected. Trump secured 312 electoral votes, sweeping all seven of the major swing states.
You've probably heard people talking about a "mandate." Whether you agree with that term or not, the 1.5% lead over Kamala Harris (who took about 48.3%) was enough to flip the script. In the swing states, the gains were smaller than the national average, but they were consistent. For instance, in Pennsylvania, he grabbed about 50.4%, and in Arizona, he hit 52.2%.
What’s kinda wild is the turnout. About 64% of eligible citizens voted. That's actually a tiny bit lower than 2020, but it’s still the second-highest turnout we’ve seen since the early 1900s.
The Groups That Moved the Needle
The "who" is just as interesting as the "how many." Trump’s coalition looked a lot different this time around. It wasn't just the rural base carrying the weight, though they certainly did their part—Trump won rural areas by a massive 40-point margin.
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Check out how these specific demographics landed:
Hispanic Voters
This was probably the biggest shock of the night. About 48% of Hispanic voters backed Trump. Compare that to the 36% he got in 2020. That is a 12-point jump. In many places, Hispanic men were split almost right down the middle between the two parties.
Black Voters
While the majority of Black voters still went for Harris (about 83%), Trump made gains here too. He doubled his support among young Black men under 45, hitting around 21% with that specific group.
The Gender Gap
Men really showed up for Trump this time. About 55% of men voted for him, which is up from 50% last time. Women leaned toward Harris at 53%, but even there, Trump held steady or made tiny gains compared to his previous runs.
Why the Popular Vote Flipped
A lot of people ask why the popular vote changed so much from 2020 to 2024. Most of it comes down to "differential turnout." Basically, Trump was better at getting his 2020 voters to come back to the polls. According to Pew Research, 89% of his previous supporters showed up again, while only about 85% of Biden’s 2020 supporters turned out for Harris.
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Then you have the "new" voters. People who sat out 2020 but decided to chime in for 2024 favored Trump by about 54% to 42%.
The education divide also got even wider. If you didn't have a four-year college degree, you were much more likely to be in the Trump camp. He won that group by 14 points. On the flip side, Harris won college grads by about 16 points. It's like two different Americas looking at the same ballot.
The State-by-State Reality
It wasn't a uniform wave. In deep blue New York, Trump still lost, but he closed the gap significantly. He pulled about 44% there, which is a huge shift for a state that usually isn't even competitive.
In Florida, it wasn't even close. He cleared 56%, basically cementing the state's transition from "purple swing state" to "solid red." Meanwhile, in the Midwest, the "Blue Wall" crumbled. Michigan and Wisconsin were tight, but Trump edged them out with roughly 49.7% of the vote in each.
Understanding the Final Tally
So, when someone asks what percentage voted for Trump 2024, the "official" answer is 49.8%. But remember, that's a national average. American elections are actually 50 different elections happening at once.
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The reasons people gave for their vote were pretty consistent in exit polls. The economy and immigration were the big ones. Around 81% of people who said the economy was their top issue voted for Trump. For those who prioritized abortion or foreign policy, the numbers swung the other way.
If you’re trying to make sense of what this means for the future, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Look at the margins, not just the win. The 1.5% popular vote lead is actually one of the smaller winning margins in history, even though it felt huge because of the Electoral College sweep.
- Watch the "non-voter" data. The Census Bureau notes that about 35% of citizens didn't vote. Interestingly, when asked later, those non-voters were almost evenly split on who they would have picked.
- Local trends matter. The shift in urban areas—where Trump's support grew from 2020—might be a sign of a longer-term realignment in American politics.
For anyone looking to dive deeper into the specific certified results of their own county or state, the best bet is to check the Federal Election Commission (FEC) official reports or your specific Secretary of State website. They provide the most granular data on exactly how many people showed up and where every single decimal point came from.
Next Steps for Researching Election Data:
- Visit the Census Bureau’s Voting and Registration tables to see how your specific age or education group voted nationally.
- Review the AP VoteCast data if you want to see the "why" behind the numbers, including the top issues for different voter blocks.
- Check your local County Clerk’s office for "over-vote" and "under-vote" stats to see how many people left the presidential line blank while voting for other offices.