How did Reading, PA vote in the 2024 presidential election?

Reading, PA voted Republican in 2024 with a margin of R+12.2. Kamala D Harris received 91,125 votes and Donald Trump received 116,677 out of 209,838 total votes cast, a 4.0-point shift toward Republicans from 2020.

What is Reading, PA's political history?

Reading, PA has 40 presidential elections on record, spanning 1868 to 2024. Democrats have won 20 and Republicans 20 of those contests. The largest single-election swing was 43.1 points in 1964.

What are the demographics of Reading, PA?

Reading, PA has a population of 433,015 according to the 2020 Census. The racial composition is 66.6% non-Hispanic white, 24.8% Hispanic, 4.6% Black. About 28% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median household income is $79,777.

Which places are most similar to Reading, PA?

Based on demographic and electoral similarity analysis, the three most similar metro areas to Reading, PA are Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ, Tucson, AZ. Similarity is computed using a vector embedding of demographic, economic, and electoral characteristics.

Reading, PA

Latest: 2024↓ R+4.0 vs 2020

Leans Republican — shifted 4.0pp toward Republicans in 2024 — 433K residents — 1 counties

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POPULATION
433K
COUNTIES
1
PRES MARGIN
R+12.2
2024
TURNOUT
64.7%
MEDIAN INCOME
$80K

Place Story

What defines Reading, PA

Methodology

Leans Republican since 2012
- Likely R
- 4 straight R wins
Biggest swing: D+43.1 in 1964
- 1960 → 1964
Volatile behavior — treat historical margins with caution.
Ticket-splitting: President ran 13.4pp ahead of Senate
- Divergence 13.5pp in 2000
Persuadable voters present — downballot races can run independent of presidential.
Catholic edge: 19pp over Evangelicals
- 43% Catholic / 24% Evangelical
Correlates nationally with Democratic-leaning behavior.

Constituent Counties

Open in Cartographer

Similarity Explorer

Similar metro areas

Nearest neighbors matched on the same place-page feature set used across the dossier system.

8 visible matches

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA

Diverse rural democratic

D+15.3

Similarity score89%

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

Educated rural competitive 2

R+5.2

Similarity score89%

Tucson, AZ

Educated rural democratic

D+15.1

Similarity score87%

Greeley, CO

Small-town rural republican 2

R+21.0

Similarity score87%

Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA

Educated rural democratic

D+46.2

Similarity score85%

Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL

Educated rural competitive 2

R+2.4

Similarity score85%

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA

Diverse rural democratic

R+1.7

Similarity score84%

Constituent Geography

Counties in Reading, PA

2024 presidential results across the counties that make up this geography.

Sort:

County	Pop.	Margin	Dem	Rep	Total	Share
Berks	433K	R+12.2	91,125	116,677	209,838	100.0%

1 countiesTotal votes: 209,838

Historian Query

Ask the Historian

Explore Reading, PA's political evolution with the Historian

“How has the Reading, PA metro area voted in presidential elections?”

Race & Ancestry

Who Lives Here

A race-first Census view with ancestry expansion where source coverage is strong enough to support detail.

Reading, PACensus ACS 2024Ancestry detail available

Census race profile

Major Census race and ethnicity groups shown as a share of total population.

Expand rows for ancestry detail

White (Non-Hispanic) 66.6%Hispanic 24.8%Black 4.6%Multiracial 1.9%Asian 1.4%Native American 0.7%

Group	Reading, PA	National
▶White (Non-Hispanic)(13)	66.6%	57.4%
▶Hispanic / Latino(18)	24.8%	19.3%
▶Black / African American(14)	4.6%	12.2%
Multiracial / Other	1.9%	4.0%
▶Asian(6)	1.4%	6.0%
▶Native American / Alaska Native(1)	0.7%	0.9%
▶Middle Eastern / North African(6)	0.4%	0.9%

Method notes

Census treats race and Hispanic/Latino origin as separate questions. Race categories other than Hispanic reflect total populations (small Hispanic overlap in Black, Asian, AIAN, NHPI). “Multiracial / Other” is derived as a non-overlapping remainder.

Click rows to expand ancestry detail. Ancestry from ACS B04006, B03001, B02020, B02016. Totals may differ from race — individuals can report multiple ancestries.

Black / African American (estimated remainder) is derived as Black population share minus reported Sub-Saharan African and West Indian ancestry. It is shown as an estimated ancestry detail, not a standalone Census ancestry category.

MENA estimated from ancestry reporting — Census does not have a separate MENA race category. Not shown in bar (overlaps with other race groups).

Religious Adherents

Population that are religious adherents:

45.2%(195.7K people)

U.S. Religion Census 2020

Browse all religions

Catholic-Evangelical edge: +14.9pp (vs national 4.5pp). A strongly Catholic-leaning religious profile, which nationally correlates with Democratic-leaning urban and suburban communities.

Tradition	% Pop	% Adherents	US Pop	US Adherents
Catholic	19.4%	42.9%	—	—
Mainline Protestant	12.6%	27.8%	—	—
Evangelical Protestant	10.6%	23.5%	—	—
Other	2.0%	4.4%	—	—
LDS (Mormon)	0.4%	1.0%	—	—
Orthodox Christian	0.3%	0.7%	—	—
Black Protestant	0.3%	0.6%	—	—
Non-religiousPopulation	54.8%	—	—	—

Click the chevron to expand denominations. Tradition and denomination rows label both share of total population and share of all religious adherents. Non-religious is shown as a share of total population only.

Explore Catholic adherence nationally

Who lives in the Reading, PA metro area? 433,015 residents across 1 counties.

Demographic Comparison

Demographics

Read this geography's profile in three layers: local, state (where available), and national baseline.

Reading, PA vs National433K residents

28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree — 5pp below the national average. Places with similar education levels vote R+3 on average nationally.

Population & electorate

Scale, voting-age share, and this geography's footprint inside the national electorate.

Total population

Local vs state vs U.S.

433K

local

433KNational 334.9M

Share of U.S. population

Local vs state vs U.S.

0.13%

local

0.13%National 100%

Voting-age population

Local vs state vs U.S.

75.0%

local

75.0%National 75.7%

Economic profile

Income, attainment, and ownership indicators that often shape coalition structure and turnout behavior.

Median household income

Local vs state vs U.S.

$79,777

local

$79,777National $83,960

Poverty rate

Local vs state vs U.S.

12.2%

local

12.2%National 12.5%

College degree

Local vs state vs U.S.

27.7%

local

27.7%National 35.6%

Homeownership

Local vs state vs U.S.

71.3%

local

71.3%National 65.2%

Community profile

Age structure, language use, and nativity signals that explain how this geography differs from state and nation.

Median age

Local vs state vs U.S.

39.9 yrs

local

39.9 yrsNational 39.1 yrs

Age 18–29

Local vs state vs U.S.

15.6%

local

15.6%National 15.7%

Age 65+

Local vs state vs U.S.

18.0%

local

18.0%National 17.0%

Foreign born

Local vs state vs U.S.

9.7%

local

9.7%National 14.1%

Non-English at home

Local vs state vs U.S.

21.3%

local

21.3%National 22.2%

English only

Local vs state vs U.S.

78.7%

local

78.7%National 77.8%

Voter Turnout

Turnout in Reading, PA

Estimated using 2020 Census voting-age population.

2024 Turnout

64.7%

vs Previous

+1.4pp

Voting-Age Pop

324,573

History

1988–2024

Competitiveness

How competitive is Reading, PA?

Likely RAvg margin: R+10.1 (last 3 elections)

2008

D+9.2

2012

R+1.0

2016

R+9.9

2020

R+8.2

2024

R+12.2

Elasticity

21.3pp

margin range

Party Flips

last 30 years

5-Elec Avg

R+4.4

Ticket-Splitting

Do voters in Reading, PA split their tickets?

Divergence between offices in the same election reveals persuadable voters.

ConsistencyModerate splitting (72/100)

2024 Office Comparisons

Offices	Margin A	Margin B	Split
President vs Senate	R+12.2	R+9.3	2.8pp

Average divergence across office pairs: 6.4pp

Containing Geography

Located In

Reading, PA sits inside these higher-level geographies.

Pennsylvania(State)

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