The 10 Most Conservative Cities In Illinois For 2024


The most conservative cities in Illinois are Vandalia and Effingham for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Now that we’re headed towards the next big election, we wanted to get a better sense of what parts of Illinois would be the most likely to back Donald Trump again.

Specifically, which cities have the highest number of conservative voters in the Prairie State?

To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to measure how each city in Illinois with populations greater than 5,000 voted in past elections. The cities with the highest percentage of voters who voted Republican were named the most conservative cities in the state.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 most conservative places in Illinois for 2024

  1. Vandalia
  2. Effingham
  3. Marion
  4. Carmi
  5. Pana
  6. Centralia
  7. Mount Carmel
  8. Paris
  9. Olney
  10. Robinson

Most Conservative Cities In Illinois Map

If you’re wondering, North Riverside is the most liberal city in Illinois of all those we measured.

And to be clear, we didn’t form this list based on our own biases — we relied on the cold hard data. For more on how we ran the numbers, keep on reading. Then we’ll take a closer look at each of our top 10 most conservative cities in Illinois.

Additional reading about Illinois and the most conservative places in the country:

The 10 Most Conservative Places In Illinois For 2024

Vandalia, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Percent Republican: 80.1%
More on Vandalia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Effingham, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Percent Republican: 78.8%
More on Effingham: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Marion, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Percent Republican: 78.6%
More on Marion: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Carmi, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Percent Republican: 78.0%
More on Carmi: Data | Real Estate

Pana, IL

Source: Wikipedia User DianePearse69 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Percent Republican: 77.9%
More on Pana: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Centralia, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Percent Republican: 77.4%
More on Centralia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Mount Carmel, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Percent Republican: 75.8%
More on Mount Carmel: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Paris, IL

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Percent Republican: 75.6%
More on Paris: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Olney, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Percent Republican: 75.5%
More on Olney: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Robinson, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Percent Republican: 74.7%
More on Robinson: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

How we determined the most conservative cities in Illinois for 2024

To find the most conservative places in Illinois, we used Saturday Night Science – the argument you’d make at a bar – to find the cities with the most conservatives.

We started by making a list of every city in Illinois over 5,000 people based on the 2018-2022 American Community Survey. That left us with 330 cities and towns.

We then measured the voting record and MIT election data to determine which places rock the most rightward in their allegiances by:

  1. Percentage Of Votes For The Republican President In 2020

Because no voting data exists at the city level, we used county-level election results from the 2020 election. We assigned every city in a county the percentage of votes that went to the Republicans, effectively extending the county’s results to the city level. In cases where larger cities encompassed an entire county, the election outcomes accurately reflected the city’s political landscape.

Next, we ranked each city from 1 to 330 for each criterion, where number one was the most conservative.

The winner, Vandalia, is “The Most Conservative City in Illinois For 2024”. The most liberal place in Illinois was North Riverside.

We updated this article for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the most conservative places to live in Illinois.

Summing Up The Conservative Strongholds in Illinois

Well, there you have it, the places in Illinois that have the highest number of conservatives per capita, with Vandalia ranking as the most conservative in the entire state.

The most conservative cities in Illinois are Vandalia, Effingham, Marion, Carmi, Pana, Centralia, Mount Carmel, Paris, Olney, and Robinson.

If you’re curious, here are the least conservative cities in Illinois:

  1. North Riverside
  2. Midlothian
  3. Park Ridge

For more Illinois reading, check out:

Most Conservative Places In Illinois

Rank City Population % Conservative
1 Vandalia, IL 6,058 80.1%
2 Effingham, IL 12,244 78.8%
3 Marion, IL 16,867 78.6%
4 Carmi, IL 5,042 78.0%
5 Pana, IL 5,167 77.9%
6 Centralia, IL 12,096 77.4%
7 Mount Carmel, IL 6,978 75.8%
8 Paris, IL 8,331 75.6%
9 Olney, IL 8,995 75.5%
10 Robinson, IL 7,089 74.7%
11 Chester, IL 6,941 74.4%
12 Metropolis, IL 5,963 73.3%
13 Harrisburg, IL 8,380 73.2%
14 Benton, IL 6,999 73.1%
15 West Frankfort, IL 7,168 73.1%
16 Jerseyville, IL 7,623 73.0%
17 Pinckneyville, IL 5,104 72.7%
18 Du Quoin, IL 5,822 72.7%
19 Salem, IL 7,228 72.6%
20 Quincy, IL 39,441 72.2%
21 Mount Vernon, IL 14,740 71.7%
22 Taylorville, IL 11,318 71.4%
23 Pontiac, IL 11,451 71.1%
24 Streator, IL 12,279 71.1%
25 Clinton, IL 6,889 70.2%
26 Litchfield, IL 6,937 69.5%
27 Hillsboro, IL 5,673 69.5%
28 Greenville, IL 7,121 69.1%
29 Eureka, IL 5,504 69.1%
30 Lincoln, IL 13,371 68.7%
31 Beardstown, IL 5,884 68.2%
32 Herrin, IL 12,344 67.8%
33 Carbondale, IL 22,039 67.8%
34 Carterville, IL 5,836 67.8%
35 Carlinville, IL 5,724 67.2%
36 Waterloo, IL 11,012 66.9%
37 Columbia, IL 11,036 66.9%
38 Danville, IL 29,100 65.6%
39 Jacksonville, IL 17,639 65.0%
40 Monticello, IL 6,337 63.6%
41 Charleston, IL 17,795 62.1%
42 Mattoon, IL 16,830 62.1%
43 Minooka, IL 12,606 61.9%
44 Morris, IL 14,491 61.9%
45 Channahon, IL 13,807 61.9%
46 Braidwood, IL 6,160 61.9%
47 Coal City, IL 5,218 61.9%
48 Rockford, IL 148,173 61.8%
49 Rochelle, IL 9,417 61.8%
50 Pekin, IL 32,075 61.6%
51 Morton, IL 16,601 61.6%
52 Washington, IL 15,988 61.6%
53 East Peoria, IL 22,552 61.6%
54 Peoria Heights, IL 5,890 61.6%
55 Spring Valley, IL 5,518 59.7%
56 Princeton, IL 7,749 59.7%
57 Kewanee, IL 12,179 59.7%
58 Colona, IL 5,404 59.7%
59 Geneseo, IL 6,421 59.7%
60 Canton, IL 13,380 59.2%
61 Monmouth, IL 8,764 59.1%
62 Dixon, IL 15,573 58.7%
63 Mount Zion, IL 6,255 57.9%
64 Decatur, IL 70,975 57.9%
65 Macomb, IL 15,207 57.2%
66 Bourbonnais, IL 18,125 57.2%
67 Kankakee, IL 24,795 57.2%
68 Manteno, IL 8,632 57.2%
69 Bradley, IL 15,379 57.2%
70 Freeport, IL 23,884 56.8%
71 Ottawa, IL 18,708 56.2%
72 Lasalle, IL 9,562 56.2%
73 Mendota, IL 6,961 56.2%
74 Peru, IL 9,831 56.2%
75 Loves Park, IL 22,935 55.6%
76 Belvidere, IL 25,389 55.6%
77 Bethalto, IL 9,281 55.4%
78 Granite City, IL 27,026 55.4%
79 Alton, IL 25,642 55.4%
80 East Alton, IL 5,782 55.4%
81 Highland, IL 10,215 55.4%
82 Glen Carbon, IL 13,654 55.4%
83 Pontoon Beach, IL 6,039 55.4%
84 Wood River, IL 10,313 55.4%
85 Godfrey, IL 17,791 55.4%
86 Maryville, IL 8,219 55.4%
87 Edwardsville, IL 26,622 55.4%
88 Troy, IL 10,920 55.4%
89 Collinsville, IL 24,294 55.4%
90 Sterling, IL 14,852 53.1%
91 Rock Falls, IL 8,904 53.1%
92 Galesburg, IL 29,923 51.9%
93 Springfield, IL 114,214 51.1%
94 Chatham, IL 14,437 51.1%
95 Huntley, IL 27,652 50.2%
96 Mchenry, IL 27,493 50.2%
97 Woodstock, IL 26,084 50.2%
98 Island Lake, IL 8,039 50.2%
99 Algonquin, IL 29,888 50.2%
100 Crystal Lake, IL 40,463 50.2%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

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