The Census Bureau has collected data on the characteristics of American voters for every national election since 1964. Census Bureau
The charts cover presidential elections only: 1980 to 2024 nationwide, and back to 1972 in the largest states.
Voter Turnout Explorer
See what share of adults reported voting in every presidential election since 1980 nationwide, and back to 1972 in the largest states, from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
How to answer this
The Census Bureau has collected data on the characteristics of American voters for every national election since 1964. Census Bureau
The charts cover presidential elections only: 1980 to 2024 nationwide, and back to 1972 in the largest states.
The Census Bureau has collected data on the characteristics of American voters for every national election since 1964. Census Bureau
The charts cover presidential elections only: 1980 to 2024 nationwide, and back to 1972 in the largest states.
The figures are survey estimates of reported voting: the percentage of the survey’s population 18 and older reported in the Census Bureau’s November survey as having voted. Census Table A-6
The total rate is a percentage of the survey’s population 18 and older, noncitizens included: about 260.4 million people in 2024, about 236.1 million of them citizens. Census Table 4a
Because the figures come from a survey, they carry sampling error; the Census Bureau’s 2024 table gives each 2024 percentage a margin of error, which added to or subtracted from the estimate gives a 90% confidence interval. Census Table 4a
Table A-5a’s figures for every year, 1972 to 2024, come from the same November survey, and the table’s notes point to the Census Bureau’s documentation on sampling error and nonsampling error. Census Table A-5a
Earlier years carry sampling error too, so a small change from one election to the next may not be a real change.
| Election year | Reported voting |
|---|---|
| 1980 | 59.2% |
| 1984 | 59.9% |
| 1988 | 57.4% |
| 1992 | 61.3% |
| 1996 | 54.2% |
| 2000 | 54.7% |
| 2004 | 58.3% |
| 2008 | 58.2% |
| 2012 | 56.5% |
| 2016 | 56.0% |
| 2020 | 61.3% |
| 2024 | 59.3% |
Where the Numbers Come From
- The data come from the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and conducted by the Census Bureau. Census Bureau
- The figures are survey estimates of reported voting: the percentage of the survey’s population 18 and older reported in the Census Bureau’s November survey as having voted. Census Table A-5a
- The total rate is a percentage of the survey’s population 18 and older, noncitizens included: about 260.4 million people in 2024, about 236.1 million of them citizens. Census Table 4a
- Because the figures come from a survey, they carry sampling error; the Census Bureau’s 2024 table gives each 2024 percentage a margin of error, which added to or subtracted from the estimate gives a 90% confidence interval. Census Table 4a
- Table A-5a’s figures for every year, 1972 to 2024, come from the same November survey, and the table’s notes point to the Census Bureau’s documentation on sampling error and nonsampling error. Census Table A-5a
Earlier years carry sampling error too, so a small change from one election to the next may not be a real change.
- For 1976 the table covers only the 25 largest states, and for 1972 only the 15 largest, because of smaller samples. Census Table A-5a