30.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Palo Alto County.

More recent elections have significantly favored Republicans, as in 2016, Donald Trump became the first nominee of any party to capture at least 65% of the county's vote since Lyndon B. Johnson in his national landslide of 1964.

Trump's margin of victory of nearly 36% was the largest in the county since Warren G. Harding in 1920.

Trump improved on his first performance in 2020, obtaining almost 68% of the vote in Palo Alto County and grew his margin of victory to over 37%.

It was the best vote share for any candidate in the county since Harding a century earlier.