Impact Essex County

How is our county doing?

In Essex County, voter participation was 64% in the 2016 presidential elections and 43% in the 2014 midterm elections. The 2016 presidential election participation rate was similar in any presidential election since 2000.

Voter turnout in Essex County was a bit higher than the state (62%) and substantially higher than national rate (55%) during the last presidential election. Wenham had the lowest participation rate in the past two elections, at 42% in 2014 and 60% in 2016.

How do we compare to similar counties?

Voter participation in Essex County during the 2016 presidential elections was much higher than Lake, IL and Westchester, NY (both at 56%), and similar to the rate in Middlesex, MA at 63%. This pattern persisted in the 2014 midterms, with Westchester at 31% and Lake at 38% while both Middlesex and Essex County were at 43%.

Voter Participation Rate

	2000	2002	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2016
Essex County, MA	58%	47%	61%	47%	64%	47%	63%	43%	64%
Andover	71%	58%	74%	57%	76%	58%	75%	51%	75%
Boxford	78%	68%	85%	68%	88%	74%	89%	63%	88%
Danvers	64%	51%	66%	52%	68%	51%	68%	46%	72%
Essex	78%	65%	82%	67%	84%	66%	79%	59%	81%
Georgetown	71%	56%	76%	60%	81%	62%	81%	55%	81%
Groveland	69%	58%	77%	62%	81%	63%	81%	57%	81%
Hamilton	70%	60%	78%	62%	83%	64%	79%	57%	81%
Ipswich	70%	58%	76%	61%	79%	61%	79%	57%	81%
Lynnfield	78%	67%	81%	63%	82%	65%	83%	57%	80%
Manchester	79%	68%	84%	69%	88%	70%	89%	66%	89%
Marblehead	78%	66%	80%	66%	84%	68%	84%	64%	86%
Merrimac	66%	54%	73%	57%	76%	57%	74%	52%	76%
Middleton	55%	46%	59%	52%	64%	50%	64%	45%	68%
Nahant	73%	64%	77%	65%	81%	67%	80%	65%	81%
Newbury	73%	62%	79%	66%	84%	69%	85%	63%	85%
North Andover	66%	54%	68%	52%	73%	54%	72%	48%	72%
Rockport	70%	60%	76%	63%	80%	64%	82%	63%	83%
Rowley	68%	57%	74%	60%	79%	62%	80%	58%	82%
Salisbury	57%	44%	61%	45%	64%	47%	63%	43%	64%
Saugus	61%	49%	63%	48%	63%	49%	62%	45%	65%
Swampscott	69%	59%	74%	59%	77%	65%	77%	61%	77%
Topsfield	79%	70%	84%	70%	87%	73%	89%	67%	88%
Wenham	57%	50%	61%	48%	61%	48%	59%	42%	60%
West Newbury	82%	67%	85%	69%	91%	73%	88%	66%	89%
Middlesex County, MA	58%	48%	61%	47%	63%	47%	62%	43%	63%
Lake County, IL	17%	37%	57%	38%	59%	40%	56%	38%	56%
Westchester County, NY	55%	37%	57%	39%	59%	37%	53%	31%	56%
Massachusetts	56%	45%	59%	45%	62%	45%	61%	41%	62%
United States	50%		56%		57%		54%		55%

Source: Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, New York State Board of Elections, Illinois State Board of Elections and Federal Elections Commission
Notes: Rates were calculated using Census estimates of the population 18 and over. National data only available for presidential years.

Number of People who Voted

	2000	2002	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2016
Essex County, MA	313,374	258,718	334,862	260,488	356,071	269,472	368,102	258,959	392,789
Andover	16,513	13,738	17,410	13,485	18,344	14,263	18,830	13,211	19,572
Boxford	4,447	3,866	4,811	3,826	4,981	4,253	5,193	3,695	5,208
Danvers	12,721	10,419	13,337	10,535	14,050	10,737	14,638	10,160	15,606
Essex	1,945	1,653	2,113	1,736	2,209	1,760	2,180	1,648	2,304
Georgetown	3,841	3,142	4,261	3,404	4,746	3,690	4,947	3,407	5,102
Groveland	3,146	2,694	3,594	2,914	3,867	3,047	4,002	2,872	4,125
Hamilton	4,228	3,604	4,595	3,587	4,728	3,603	4,529	3,302	4,762
Ipswich	7,122	5,961	7,806	6,282	8,167	6,383	8,413	6,149	8,846
Lynnfield	6,598	5,725	6,912	5,372	6,984	5,652	7,292	5,385	7,693
Manchester	3,166	2,726	3,314	2,688	3,421	2,752	3,543	2,663	3,623
Marblehead	11,872	10,117	12,112	9,863	12,460	10,170	12,704	9,820	13,158
Merrimac	3,038	2,526	3,413	2,663	3,581	2,715	3,604	2,642	3,935
Middleton	3,376	2,887	3,827	3,484	4,368	3,508	4,656	3,436	5,211
Nahant	2,219	1,936	2,259	1,874	2,314	1,914	2,320	1,886	2,378
Newbury	3,774	3,232	4,092	3,372	4,329	3,539	4,481	3,368	4,623
North Andover	13,171	10,914	13,855	10,618	15,062	11,252	15,343	10,628	16,391
Rockport	4,500	3,818	4,657	3,734	4,685	3,678	4,774	3,707	4,976
Rowley	2,816	2,417	3,151	2,562	3,449	2,723	3,594	2,702	3,905
Salisbury	3,611	2,820	3,969	2,911	4,222	3,164	4,314	3,038	4,810
Saugus	12,971	10,537	13,471	10,126	13,504	10,594	13,821	10,078	14,718
Swampscott	7,705	6,551	8,047	6,312	8,191	6,872	8,300	6,666	8,885
Topsfield	3,525	3,147	3,733	3,098	3,859	3,226	4,092	3,183	4,214
Wenham	2,098	1,849	2,271	1,796	2,345	1,867	2,373	1,712	2,478
West Newbury	2,487	2,059	2,590	2,106	2,772	2,250	2,797	2,161	2,988
Middlesex County, MA	663,624	547,665	692,287	538,444	730,490	557,974	757,380	531,679	808,630
Lake County, IL	76,085	173,888	275,295	186,305	299,105	204,927	287,493	200,827	299,040
Westchester County, NY	378,961	258,104	398,532	274,690	417,496	265,063	387,880	229,387	424,055
Massachusetts	2,734,006	2,220,301	2,927,455	2,243,835	3,102,995	2,319,963	3,184,196	2,186,789	3,378,801
United States	105,405,100		122,295,345		131,257,328		129,067,662		136,669,237

Source: Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, New York State Board of Elections, Illinois State Board of Elections and Federal Elections Commission
Notes: National data only available for presidential years.

INDICATORS	TREND \| ESSEX COUNTY
Bachelor's Degree or Higher by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Preterm Births	Increasing
Infant Mortality Rate	Maintaining
Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels	Decreasing
Children Living in Poverty	Increasing
Children Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Child Abuse and Neglect	Increasing
Disengaged Youth	Decreasing
Live Births to Teen Mothers	Decreasing
Youth Arrests	Decreasing
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Establishments	Maintaining
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Employment	Maintaining
Tourism Spending	Increasing
Voter Participation Rate	Increasing
Charitable Contributions	Maintaining
Protected Land	Not Applicable
Days with Good Air Quality	Increasing
Beach Contamination	Decreasing
Daily Water Use per Resident	Decreasing
Crimes Against People	Increasing
Crimes Against Property	Increasing
Drug-Related Arrests	Maintaining
Reports of Domestic Violence	Increasing
Incarceration Rates	Decreasing
Recidivism	Decreasing
Households Without Vehicles	Maintaining
Means of Transportation to Work	Not Applicable
Traffic Injuries and Fatalities	Maintaining
Households With Internet Access	Increasing
Change in Total Population	Increasing
Change in Population by Age/Gender	Not Applicable
People 65 or Older Living Alone	Decreasing
People with Disabilities	Increasing
Households by Type	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Gender	Not Applicable
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Change in Population by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Foreign-Born Population	Increasing
Language Diversity	Increasing
Change in Total Jobs	Increasing
Change in Jobs by Sector	Not Applicable
Change in Average Salary	Increasing
Change in Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Average Salary by Sector	Not Applicable
Median Earnings by Occupation by Gender	Not Applicable
People Entering/Leaving County for Work	Not Applicable
Employer Size	Not Applicable
Self-Employment Revenue	Decreasing
Unemployment Rate	Increasing
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Prekindergarten Participation	Not Applicable
Female Enrollment in School	Not Applicable
Chronically Absent Students	Increasing
Per-Student Spending	Increasing
Bullying	Maintaining
Student Performance on Grade 3 Reading	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math by Student Group	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 English Language Arts	Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 10 Math	Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate	Increasing
High School Cohort Graduation Rate by Student Group	Not Applicable
Education Levels of Adults	Not Applicable
Income in Relation to Poverty Level	Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income	Decreasing
Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Median Household Income by Household Type	Not Applicable
Living Wage Rate by Household Type	Not Applicable
Households Receiving Temporary Assistance	Maintaining
Households Receiving Federal Food Assistance	Increasing
Participation in Food Assistance by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Earned Income Tax Credit Participation	Maintaining
Economically Disadvantaged Students	Increasing
Median Home Value	Increasing
Housing Affordability for Homeowners	Increasing
Housing Affordability for Renters	Increasing
Homeownership Rates	Maintaining
Homeownership Rates by Race/Ethnicity	Not Applicable
Homeless Persons	Increasing
People Without Health Insurance	Decreasing
Medical Care Expenses	Increasing
Prevalence of Children with Asthma	Maintaining
Prevalence of Overweight Children	Decreasing
Prevalence of Overweight Adults	Not Applicable
Diabetes Incidence	Decreasing
Chronic Disease Among Older Adults	Increasing
Cancer Incidence	Decreasing
Cancer Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Heart Disease Mortality Rate	Decreasing
Mortality Rate	Decreasing
People who Smoke	Not Applicable
Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Youth Use of Illegal Drugs	Not Applicable
Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions	Not Applicable
Drug Overdose Mortality Rate	Increasing
Prevalence of Mental Illness	Maintaining
Suicide Rate	Maintaining

INDICATORS

TREND | ESSEX COUNTY