In my opinion, the last three (3) presidential election cycles (2016, 2020, 2024) have been contentious as well as motivating. Indeed, voter participation has increased steadily in Bucks County over the last 20 years as illustrated in Figure 1. Voter turnout has risen from 71% in 2004 to nearly 82% in 2024. Clearly people are motivated, but how did we vote in 2024 in our little part of the world? I looked back on the 2024 election results to get a sense of our voting patterns as a community. Given that I live in Levittown, Bucks County PA, that is where I have focused. (A pdf version of this article is available here.)

Figure 1: Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections; 2004-2024 (Bucks County)

Election Results

Although my purpose is to better understand how voting took place in the Levittown area, State and County level results provide context. I have focused on federal level offices (President, Senator, Congressional Representative) during the 2024 cycle because these offices garner the most interest and motivate citizens to exercise their right to vote.

State Level Results

At the state level, the Republican presidential candidate won the popular vote by 120,266 votes out of 7,034,206 that were cast.[1]  This margin represents 1.71 % of the total and although it is not a large margin, it’s greater than the margin in the last two cycles (2016, 2020). These narrow margins confirm that Pennsylvania continues to be a hotly contested political battleground. Pennsylvania is a winner-take-all state when it comes to electoral college votes and all 20 votes were won by the Republican candidate. Figure 2 illustrates that voting was indeed quite close between the two major candidates.

Figure 2:2024 Presidential Election Results for Pennsylvania

Across Pennsylvania, county-level majority results are shown in Figure 3. The win/loss nature of illustrating a simple majority as shown may not fully indicate how close the election actually was because you don’t get a sense of how large the win/loss margins were between the major candidates. Figure 4 adds some context as a composite of the actual vote tallies. Shades of purple indicate close races in those counties.

Figure 3: PA 2024 Presidential Election Majorities by County

Figure 4: PA Presidential Election Composite Results by County

County Level Results

At our county (Bucks) level, the republican presidential candidate won the popular vote by 291 votes out of 401,028 that were cast.[2] This margin equates to 0.07% of the total and is a tighter margin than the state level results noted above. Figure 5 illustrates the county level voting spread between the two major candidates.

Figure 5: 2024 Presidential Election Results for Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County includes 54 municipalities. Voting results at the municipality level are illustrated in Figure 6. These results indicate that the lower part of the county with the highest population density (Lower Bucks) and a portion of Central Bucks were carried by democratic voters while Upper Bucks and the remainder of Central Bucks were carried by republican voters. However, as noted above in the state level results, to view our election results on the basis of a simple political majority, fails to recognize how enmeshed we are – in short how “purple” we are. Figure 7 presents election results for the county based on the percentage of voters for each party. As indicated, our hue is purple.

Figure 6: 2024 Presidential Election Majority Results for Municipalities in Bucks County, Pennsylvania[3]

Figure 7: 2020 Bucks County Election Results As Percentages of Party Voters.

Local – Levittown Area Results

Levittown is located in Lower Bucks County and although it is a sizable area and a designated Census Data Place (CDP), it is not a municipality in its own right. Levittown spans portions of four (4) municipalities; Bristol Township, Falls Township, Middletown Township, and Tullytown Borough. Results for each of these municipalities are shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: 2024 Presidential Election Results for Levittown PA Municipalities.

Each municipality defines voting precincts within their jurisdictions and voting results from each represent the finest-grain level of detail available. These results can provide a near-neighborhood sense of the voting patterns within a municipality. Figures 9 through 11 illustrate the 2024 presidential results at the precinct level for the four Levittown municipalities. Note that for Tullytown, as a small borough, there is a single voting precinct which for convenience has been integrated into the Falls Township graphic in Figure 10.

Figure 9: 2024 Presidential Voting Results for Bristol Township

Figure 10: 2024 Presidential Voting Results for Falls Township and Tullytown Borough

Figure 11: 2024 Presidential Voting Results for Middletown Township

Levittown residents are distributed among the four municipalities which may include other neighborhoods beyond the 41 constructed by Levitt. To gain better resolution of Levittown patterns, precinct results across all four municipalities that include Levittown (Levitt) constructed neighborhoods have been compiled to produce an estimate of Levittown voting patterns. The results for the presidential election are shown in Figure 12. Note that for this graphic, the intensity of the precinct color (red/blue) is proportional to the margin achieved by the majority party – a high margin results in more intense color while a low margin is less intense.

Figure 12: Levittown Precinct 2024 Presidential Results

Why Levittown Matters

Levittown is an iconic place, which with its older sister in New York, helps to define what we often think of as suburbia. The 17,311 houses that Levitt built here served the needs of veterans after WWII – they were affordable and provided housing for those who worked in many of the surrounding factories and businesses of that era. Although much of the manufacturing base has diminished, Levittown continues to be a place where many young families seek to own a home, raise, and educate their children. At the same time, Levittown has a fair share of elderly residents who have elected to stay long after the children have left. One estimate from several years ago, calculated the housing turnover rate at over 30 years.

Although Levittown, PA has no single municipal existence, a common thread throughout is the broader identity of being a “Levittowner”. These 41 Levitt planning sections became neighborhoods that residents claim as their own. It is not unusual for current or former residents to ask, “What section do you live in? when they meet a fellow Levittown resident for the first time. That understanding defines the municipality, school district, Little League district, routes of travel and so much more that provides a basis for discussion of shared interests.

If Levittown were a municipality in its own right, it would be the third largest in Bucks County. The shared legacy of its broader community can be a factor in perspectives that influence governance.

If you would like to download a copy of the article, follow the attached link to the pdf.

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Kevin Deeny

[1] Pennsylvania Department of State Election Results

[2] Bucks County Board of Elections

[3] Data obtained from Bucks County Board of Elections.