How does voter turnout in the US differ by state, age and race?

In the 2020 presidential election, 72.7% of eligible Americans were registered to vote, and 66.8% of them did. Most likely to cast ballots? Older and white voters.

How many Americans turn out to vote?

Voter turnout is consistently highest in presidential election years.

So far this century, 47.8% of voting-age US citizens turned out for the average midterm election, compared to 62.8% for the average presidential elections.

While the 2020 election had the highest turnout in 28 years — 67% of registered voters — recent midterm elections have also brought voters out in record numbers. In the 2022 midterms, 69.1% of eligible voters registered to vote and 52.2% ultimately cast a ballot. This was a historic high for midterms, second only to 2018’s midterm peak of 53% for highest on record.

Does voting behavior differ across racial/ethnic groups?

In general, white non-Hispanic Americans vote at the highest rates.

In 2020, 70.9% of eligible white non-Hispanic people voted, compared to 62.6% of Black voters, 59.7% of Asian voters, and 53.7% of Hispanic voters of any race. This discrepancy was consistent with midterm turnout in 2022: 57.6% for white voters, 45.1% for Black voters, 40.2% for Asian voters, and 37.9% for Hispanic voters.

Non-Hispanic white, Asian, and Hispanic voters all had record turnouts in 2020. The 2012 election — during which Barack Obama was elected to a second term — saw the highest turnout rate of Black voters in the past 40 years.

The discrepancies widen if we look at the entire US voting-age population rather than only citizens. Asian and Hispanic residents have lower citizenship rates than white residents, so their voting rates as a percentage of the entire population are lower by wider margins. Over 60% of Asian and Hispanic citizens were registered in 2020, but less than half of the total Asian and Hispanic populations were.

How does voting behavior differ by age?

Voting rates also vary by age, with turnout increasing as voters age.

In 2020, 51.4% of citizens between the ages of 18 and 24 voted, compared to 62.6% of 25- to 44-year-olds, 71.0% of 45- to 64-year-olds, and 74.5% of people 65 and older.

Which states have the highest and lowest voter turnout?

In the 2020 election, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington, DC, had the highest citizen voting rates. Arkansans, West Virginians, and Oklahomans turned out at the lowest rates.  

States with higher turnout tended to vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, while states with lower turnout tended to vote for Republican candidate Donald Trump. Ten of the top 11 states by citizen turnout plus Washington, DC, voted blue; 12 of the bottom 14 states voted red.

How do demographic trends vary by state?

States also have varying voting rates by race, ethnicity, and age, some following national patterns more closely than others.

In Maryland, white non-Hispanic voters turned out at lower rates than the state average in 2020, while Black and Hispanic voters turned out the most. Black voters also voted most in Mississippi and Missouri but had the lowest turnout of any racial group in Massachusetts. Asian voters voted at the highest rate of any group in North Carolina, but were lowest in Colorado and Michigan, among others.

Age trends also differed across states in 2020— as well as the nation’s capital. In Washington, DC, 25- to 34-year-olds voted at the highest rates. In Missouri, 35- to 44-year-olds voted at the lowest rates.

For more information on how Americans vote, read about swing states and non-swing states. Get the data directly in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.