Counties that voted for the Republican or Democratic presidential candidate by 20 percentage points or more

2016 2016

1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

The proportion of voters living in counties that were won in a landslide for the Democratic or Republican presidential candidate has steadily increased over the last seven elections and now makes up a whopping 60 percent of the electorate.

Nearly all of this 10-point increase from 2012 came from Republicans in rural and small-town America, who swept Donald J. Trump into office.

For the first time since 2004, the last time a Republican won the White House, the voters in the less populous but more numerous deep red counties accounted for a greater share of the total vote than those in the far fewer but more populous bluest ones.

In 1992, 38 percent of voters lived in one of these landslide counties, defined here as being won by 20 percentage points or more. This shift reflects the growing tendency of like-minded people to live near one another, according to Bill Bishop, a co-author of “The Big Sort,” a 2008 book that identified this phenomenon.

Mr. Bishop said Americans have been self-segregating by lifestyle, though not necessarily politics, for several decades, but lifestyle has grown to reflect politics. “We’re sorting by the way we live, think and — it turns out — every four years or every two years, how we vote.”

Who Lives in These Counties

Republican landslide counties are generally whiter than Democratic ones.

Each colored stripe represents one landslide county in the nation. This chart shows the percentage of each county that is white.

But whites in Democratic strongholds tend to be wealthier ...

Percentage of white households in each landslide county making more than $100,000 a year.

… and more educated.

Percentage of whites with at least a bachelor’s degree.

People in Republican strongholds are more likely to be married ...

Percentage of the population of each landslide county that is married.

... and religious.

Percentage that adheres to a religion.

People in the bluest counties are more likely to work in “new economy” sectors like technology and health care services.

Percentage of civilian workers in each landslide county employed in the new economy.

A larger share of those in Republican landslide counties rely on “old economy” industries like manufacturing, agriculture and trade.

Percentage of civilian workers in each landslide county employed in the old economy.

How the Counties Compare

There are now nine times as many Republican landslide counties as Democratic ones.

242 Number of Democratic landslide counties 2,232 Number of Republican landslide counties

Those Republican counties occupy more than half of the United States.

Land area of Democratic landslide counties Land area of Republican landslide counties

7% of the U.S. 59% of the U.S.

235,485 square miles 2,069,967 square miles

More people live in the Democratic landslide counties.

Population of Democratic landslide counties Population of Republican landslide counties

99 million people 94 million people

But in 2016, they made up a smaller share of the total vote.

Democratic landslide counties Republican landslide counties

28% of all votes 31% of all votes

From 1992 to 2016, the number of Republican landslide counties nearly quadrupled, while those of Democrats declined.

Number of Democratic landslide counties Number of Republican landslide counties

533 1992 592 1992

242 2016 2,232 2016

Both expanded their share of the vote, but the reddest counties increased more.

Vote share of Democratic landslide counties Vote share of Republican landslide counties

22% 1992 10% 1992