akashic
1876–2024
Fort Smith, AR-OK·Arkansas

Fort Smith, AR-OK has voted Republican in eight straight presidential elections — R+48 in 2024.

Arkansas River crossroads where two states share one labor market

1876 — 2024·38 elections
AR
LatestR+48in 2024
TypologySunbelt Conservativecluster typology
Population229,8992024 ACS

Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas: Sunbelt Conservative metro. In 2024, voted R+48%. Republican peak: R+59 in 1972.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+48MIT Election Lab
Political typology
Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
Population
229,8992024 5-year
Median household income
$58,3152024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
70.5%2024 5-year
Black
3.6%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
12.1%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+52 in 1932MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+59 in 1972MIT Election Lab
2024 presidential election
Fort Smith, AR-OK
TrumpR+48
—
2024 presidential margin by county for Fort Smith, AR-OK, ARA map of the constituent counties of Fort Smith, AR-OK, AR, each outlined and filled by its 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic).Sebastian County, AR · R+38Crawford County, AR · R+58Sequoyah County, OK · R+62
How it voted
Share of the 2024 vote
Donald Trump ✓Republican72.8%61,825
Kamala HarrisDemocratic25.1%21,312
OtherAll other candidates2.0%1,732
D+60
R+60
3 counties, each filled by 2024 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over timeDemocratic-minus-Republican presidential margin from 1876 to 2024. Most recent: −47.7% in 2024.flipped R · 1996−47.7%DR18762024
Presidential margin over time
YearMargin (D minus R)
1876No data
1880No data
1884No data
1888No data
1892+21.1%
1896+31.7%
1900+27.0%
1904+6.3%
1908+7.3%
1912+31.5%
1916+28.8%
1920+0.2%
1924+14.2%
1928−4.4%
1932+52.3%
1936+41.3%
1940+27.1%
1944+20.2%
1948+28.6%
1952−6.0%
1956−9.4%
1960−14.6%
1964−3.0%
1968−16.9%
1972−59.4%
1976+2.2%
1980−30.9%
1984−46.4%
1988−36.2%
1992+1.0%
1996−0.7%
2000−19.5%
2004−25.7%
2008−37.9%
2012−40.8%
2016−46.5%
2020−45.5%
2024−47.7%
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
R
−47.7%
21,31261,82584,869
R
−45.5%
22,48161,91886,617
R
−46.5%
19,84956,70179,249
R
−40.8%
22,16653,89277,724
R
−37.9%
23,36552,79177,664
R
−25.7%
29,15349,55979,387
R
−19.5%
27,26840,90170,038
R
−0.7%
27,92828,39763,284
D
+1.0%
29,31828,62469,380
R
−36.2%
18,21739,22857,993
R
−46.4%
15,96144,18860,818
R
−30.9%
19,07237,93261,024
D
+2.2%
27,58726,37354,067
R
−59.4%
9,80939,03549,164
R
−16.9%
10,51617,59341,833
R
−3.0%
18,14019,25037,495
R
−14.6%
14,09818,97933,407
R
−9.4%
13,77216,65430,574
R
−6.0%
14,35116,18430,573
D
+28.6%
11,2546,00718,326
D
+20.2%
11,2817,48618,801
D
+27.1%
11,2996,46217,845
D
+41.3%
10,7834,46715,282
D
+52.3%
12,6033,91016,621
R
−4.4%
7,6218,32015,974
D
+14.2%
8,0225,85615,276
D
+0.2%
8,2188,18416,797
D
+28.8%
6,9733,74011,240
D
+31.5%
4,7812,0368,719
D
+7.3%
6,3445,42612,632
D
+6.3%
2,5202,1955,169
D
+27.0%
3,5432,0245,626
D
+31.7%
4,4922,3206,859
D
+21.1%
4,2372,6577,481
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Demographics

2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
11.3%
German
10.8%
Irish
10.7%
American
8.5%
Scottish
1.8%
Italian
1.6%
French
1.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 38.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.9%
85+
1.1%
2.1%
75–84
3.0%
4.9%
65–74
5.5%
6.4%
55–64
6.5%
6.0%
45–54
6.0%
6.0%
35–44
6.3%
6.5%
25–34
6.3%
4.3%
18–24
4.2%
9.0%
5–17
8.6%
3.1%
<5
3.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$58,315
Fort Smith, AR-OK ranks near the middle of US counties.
Fort Smith, AR-OK$58,315
Arkansas$60,773
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.7%
Working age (18–64)15.0%
Seniors (65+)11.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
88.2%
speak English only
Spanish8.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.2%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Baptist
22.6%
Other Christian
15.5%
Catholic & Orthodox
6.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
5.2%
Methodist
4.6%
Mainline Protestant
1.5%
Non-Christian
1.1%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 43.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Fort Smith's metro spans the Arkansas-Oklahoma border, anchoring a manufacturing and logistics corridor where cross-state commuting patterns complicate standard district-level turnout analysis.

Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of fifty-two points in 1932 and a Republican high of fifty-nine points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-eight points.

A population of 229,899, a 71% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $58,315 describe the metro.

Compare two places, side by side

Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/22900/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas voted Republican by 47.7 points (R+48), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 84,869 votes cast, 21,312 went Democratic and 61,825 went Republican.
What is Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas's political typology?
Akashic places Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas in the "Sunbelt Conservative" typology. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 16 times, Republican 18 times, and other 0 times.
When did Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas voted Democratic was 1992.
How many people live in Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas?
Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas has a population of 229,899 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas?
Median household income in Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas is $58,315 — below the national median of $80,734. The Arkansas state median is $60,773.
What is the political history of Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Fort Smith, AR-OK, Arkansas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The metro's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.