Which states had the highest percentage of eligible voters voting for Trump in 2024?
Executive summary
A precise ranked list of "which states had the highest percentage of eligible voters voting for Trump in 2024" is not available in the reporting provided; the public datasets that would allow that calculation (state Trump vote totals and state voting-eligible population, VEP) exist but were not compiled into the exact metric in the supplied sources [1] [2]. Using the available coverage, one can identify the states where Trump won by large margins and where turnout was strong as the likeliest candidates for the highest share of eligible voters casting ballots for him, but a definitive per‑state ranking requires merging certified state vote totals with VEP denominators [3] [1].
1. What the user is actually asking and why it matters
The question seeks not merely which states Trump won, but the share of each state’s voting‑eligible population (VEP) that cast ballots for him — a stricter measure than “share of votes cast” because it incorporates both turnout and vote share; that metric highlights where Trump converted a large fraction of people eligible to vote into Trump votes, which is useful for assessing the depth of his support beyond electoral votes or raw totals [1] [3].
2. What the reporting provides and what it does not
The reporting and public data cited here supply the building blocks — state vote totals and turnout estimates — but do not present a ready-made, state-by-state table of “Trump votes as a percentage of eligible voters.” The University of Florida Election Lab documents state‑level VEP turnout measures and explains the VEP denominator [1], the Census CPS offers comprehensive turnout and registration data [2], and the American Presidency Project aggregates election statistics [4] [3], yet none of the supplied snippets delivers a compiled ranking of Trump votes divided by state VEP [4] [2] [1].
3. What can be inferred from available coverage
Where the combination of high turnout and large Trump margins occurred — generally the reddest states — those states are the most plausible places with the highest percentage of eligible voters who voted for Trump; aggregate reporting shows Trump performed especially strongly in traditionally conservative states and that average turnout in Trump‑won states was lower than in Harris‑won states, though that alone doesn’t produce the exact metric asked for [5] [6]. Brookings highlights notable Trump gains in Florida and Texas in 2024, flagging them as states with particularly large Trump vote totals and swings toward him [7], but the article does not compute Trump votes as a percentage of VEP.
4. Likely top contenders (inference, not a definitive ranking)
Based on standard 2024 precinct- and state-level reporting trends, the likeliest states where Trump captured the largest share of the eligible electorate are strongly Republican states where he won by wide margins and turnout was near or above the state’s norm — examples typically include Wyoming, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Idaho and Alabama — but that inference is based on conventional post‑election patterns and state‑level win margins rather than an explicit calculation found in the supplied sources (reporting that documents turnout patterns and state vote behavior is available from the UF Election Lab, Census CPS and state certified results) [1] [2] [3].
5. How to produce the definitive answer and why reporters haven’t published it more widely
The definitive ranking requires combining certified state Trump vote totals (available from state election offices or national compilations) with a consistent VEP estimate (University of Florida Election Lab provides VEP denominators and explains methodology) and calculating Trump votes/VEP for each state; public analysts and outlets often focus on margins, electoral votes, or raw totals rather than that specific denominator, which explains the absence of an off‑the‑shelf list in the provided reporting [1] [4] [2].
6. Bottom line
The supplied sources establish the methodology and identify likely high‑percent states but do not deliver a final ranked list of states by "percentage of eligible voters voting for Trump"; producing that precise ranking requires combining certified state vote tallies with VEP estimates from the UF Election Lab or Census CPS and then computing Trump votes divided by VEP for each state [1] [2] [3]. Journalists or data analysts seeking to complete the task should merge the state vote totals (state election offices or national compilations) with VEP denominators (UF Election Lab or American Presidency Project guidance) to generate the exact per‑state percentages.