New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024

According to a new CIRCLE estimate of youth voter turnout based on aggregated voter files, close to half of young people (47%) ages 18-29 cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election. This revises our earlier estimate, based on exit polls available immediately after the election, which had put youth turnout at 42%, and it places young people’s electoral participation in 2024 much closer to 2020 (50%), which was a historically high year for voter turnout.

All measures of voter participation are estimates based on the best available data at the time. Our analysis of publicly available voter files aggregated by Catalist includes data from 40 states which have enough age data in their voter files to allow for reliable estimates. States with less reliable data by age are not included in our estimates or analyses.

While a slight drop from 2020, the 47% youth voter turnout in 2024 is a marked improvement from the 2016 presidential election, when we estimated that just 39% of young people cast ballots.

The youngest eligible voters historically participate at lower rates, and that was the case again in 2024. Youth voter turnout among 18- and 19-year-olds was 41%; 6 percentage points lower than turnout for all youth. That turnout gap by age group increased from 2020, when it had been 4 percentage points: 46% for ages 18-19, compared to 50% for the full 18-29 age group). Before the election we warned that the voter participation of youth ages 18-19 could be a challenge, given what we saw in voter registration data for that age group.

Differences by Gender and Race Driving Inequality

While youth voter turnout in 2024 was relatively strong overall, there were major disparities by race and gender that underscore deep inequities in our democracy.

There was a 9-point participation gap by gender in 2024: 50% turnout among young women and 41% among young men. That gap actually decreased compared to 2020, which had higher turnout overall and for both groups (55% young women, 44% young men), but remains a major source of inequality in voting.

Differences in 2024 youth turnout by race are even larger. White youth had the highest youth voter turnout (55%), followed by Asian (43%), Black (34%), and Latino (32%) youth.

Examining participation rates by race and gender together highlights the depth of these inequities. Youth voter turnout ranged from 58% among young white women to less than half of that among young Latino men (27%) and young Black men (25%).

The low youth voter turnout of young Black and Latino men, especially, continues a trend from recent elections that is a major cause for concern. In addition, the double-digit drop in voter turnout among young Latinos of both genders is a worrisome shift for a demographic that had been improving its voter participation rates in recent elections.

The causes of these inequities are complex and will require serious efforts to address. Our CIRCLE Growing Voters report detailed many of the ways in which youth of color traditionally have lower access to, and support for, civic learning and engagement opportunities that are associated with electoral participation. Our research has also tackled some of the barriers to voting still experienced by Black youth, and the lack of civic information that may be hindering Latino youth turnout.

Economic issues and financial struggles, which were central to the 2024 election, may also help explain these wide disparities. According to our post-election youth poll, Black and Latino youth were much more likely than white or Asian youth to say that they sometimes or often find it difficult to meet their financial needs. Struggling financially was linked to lower self-reported youth voting rates in 2024. In addition, youth who didn’t vote were more likely to name jobs and unemployment was one of their top-3 issue priorities compared to youth who voted (40% vs. 22%). Black youth were most likely to prioritize that issue.

State by State Turnout Ranged from 62% to 33%

National elections are really many different elections held in each state, with vastly different legal, political, and cultural contexts that affect youth participation. As we see in every election, there are major differences in youth voter participation by state, with some places far exceeding youth turnout nationally and others far behind.

In 2024, Minnesota (62%), Maine (60%), Michigan (58%), and Colorado (56%) had the highest youth voter turnout in the country. Minnesota, Maine, and Colorado were also among the top-5 states for youth voter turnout in 2020, which suggests that they have structures and cultures conducive to growing voters and supporting participation across elections.

Oklahoma (33%), Arkansas (33%), and Louisiana (36%) had the lowest youth voter turnout in 2024. All three states were near the bottom in youth voter turnout in 2020 as well. As with the states that have consistently high youth participation, this underscores the challenges in those states goes beyond the particular context, issues, or candidates in a given election cycle.

Most states experienced minor decreases in turnout between 2020 and 2024, with some notable exceptions. Oregon (-11 points), New Jersey (-13), and Montana (-10) all had double-digit percentage-point decreases in youth voter turnout; all three states had exceptionally high youth participation in 2020, and their turnout in 2024 was far closer to the national average.

On the other hand, a handful of states actually increased their turnout in 2024 compared to 2020: Michigan (+4), Pennsylvania (+2), and Georgia, North Carolina, and New Mexico (all +1). Notably, the majority of these states were highly competitive battlegrounds; we have previously documented how the increased attention, outreach, and resources in these states can increase youth voter turnout. In the case of Michigan, the state also began allowing 16-year-olds to preregister to vote for the first time.

The 2024 data strengthens the evidence for the role of election policies in facilitating or hindering youth participation. States like Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana rank in the bottom half of our Facilitative Election Laws index, which ranks states based on laws like automatic (AVR), online (OVR), and same-day voter registration (SDR). None of those three states have either AVR or SDR, and Oklahoma and Arkansas do not allow youth to pre-register at age 16. Arkansas, which is tied with Mississippi and Texas for the lowest score in our index, is also one of the few states in the country without online voter registration, and both Arkansas and Louisiana require an excuse to vote by mail.

On the other hand, states like Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, and Colorado are among the top states for both 2024 youth turnout and in our Facilitative Election Laws index. All four states have AVR, OVR, SDR, and pre-registration at age 16. All four have no-excuse absentee voting, and Colorado automatically sends mail-in ballots to every registered voter. Minnesota, which had the top youth turnout in 2024, newly implemented AVR and pre-registration after the 2022 midterm election and appears to have seen immediate results. The state also had the highest voter turnout among youth ages 18-19 (60%) who are most likely to benefit from these policies to help first-time registrants.

As both states and the federal government consider measures to alter registration and voting policies, our data paints a clear picture: laws that make it easier to participate in elections tend to increase voter turnout and strengthen our democracy