Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.
It’s the time of year when lawns start to look a little less green and a little more red, blue or other hues thanks to political campaign signs.
To mark the 2024 presidential election, LawnStarter surveyed over 1,000 U.S. homeowners about their thoughts, concerns and plans for displaying campaign signs on their lawns this year.
See the results in the following, including demographic insights such as age, education, political affiliation and region.
1. How likely are you to display political signs on your property this election season?
- Very likely: 33.89%
- Somewhat likely: 21.51%
- Neutral: 15.36%
- Somewhat unlikely: 8.82%
- Very unlikely: 20.42%
Demographic insights:
Politics: More Democrats (41.6%) than Republicans (36.4%) and Centrists (27.9%) report being very likely to put up signs this election year.
Gender + Sex: 58.6% of gay and lesbian respondents said they are very likely to put up political signs this year, compared with just 32% of heterosexual and bisexual respondents.
Income: Over 43% of voters making over $100,000 are very likely to display campaign signs, followed by 40.4% of folks making less than $20,000.
2. Have you displayed political signs at your home in the past?
- Yes: 57.09%
- No: 42.91%
Demographic insights:
Politics: Democrats are most likely (64.86%) to have displayed political signs in the past, followed by Republicans (59.1%) and Centrists (48.1%).
Gender + Sex: Male respondents (61.62%) are more likely than female respondents (53.2%) to have displayed political signs in the past.
Region: Midwesterners are most likely (60.1%) to have displayed political signs at their property in the past, while Western voters are least likely (49%) to have done so.
3. What most concerns you about placing a political sign in your lawn?
(Survey respondents could check all that apply.)
- I have no concerns: 36.97%
- Vandalism: 36.47%
- Harassment: 33.2%
- Trespassing: 18.33%
- Offending/angering neighbors and loved ones: 22.2%
- Breaking HOA or community rules: 11.5%
- Intimidation by community members: 12.09%
- Other: 2.78%
Demographic insights:
Race + Ethnicity: Asian respondents are most concerned with harassment (47.8%) and intimidation by community members (17.4%). Recent surveys show that Asian Americans continue to face disproportionately high rates of discrimination and hate crimes.
Region: Northeasterners are most concerned with vandalism (40%), harassment (36.6%) and trespassing (25.1%). Western voters are more concerned than other regions with offending or angering neighbors and loved ones (25.2%), breaking HOA or community rules (19.7%) and intimidation by community members (19.1%).
Income: Those with a doctorate, advanced or professional degree are about two times more concerned with intimidation by community members (27.9%) than the other respondents.
4. How many political signs do you have or plan to have on your lawn this year?
- 0 signs: 43.51%
- 1 sign: 23.89%
- 2 signs: 20.61%
- 3 signs: 7.83%
- 4 signs: 2.28%
- 5+ signs: 1.88%
Demographic insights:
Age: Those ages 35 to 44 are most likely to have three or more political signs on their lawn this year.
Race + Ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino respondents are most likely (17.8%) to have three or more political signs on their lawn this year.
Education: Those with a doctorate, advanced or professional degree and voters with no schooling completed are nearly or over two times more likely to display three or more political signs.
5. Which sign(s) are you sporting this election season?
- Harris/Walz: 25.87%
- Trump/Vance: 25.37%
- 3rd Party Presidential Candidate(s): 3.57%
- Local Candidates: 14.17%
- Local Issues: 9.42%
- Non-Political Signs: 2.48%
- Anti-Harris/Walz: 2.48%
- Anti-Trump/Vance: 2.78%
Demographic insights:
Region: Survey responses of homeowners in swing states that voted in the 2020 election to support either Democratic President Joe Biden or Republican former President Donald Trump were tied — demonstrating equal support this year for both the Democratic presidential ticket, Kamala Harris/Tim Walz, and Republican ticket, Trump/J.D. Vance.
Age: At 10.3%, those ages 18 to 24 are most likely to display a sign supporting a third-party presidential candidate.
Race + Ethnicity: Respondents who are Black (50%) and Hispanic or Latino (37.6%) are more likely to have a sign supporting Harris/Walz. Asian (30.4%) and non-Hispanic white (27.6%) respondents are more likely to have a Trump/Vance sign. Multiracial respondents tie between placing signs for the two candidates.
6. Why do you place political signs in your yard?
(Survey respondents could check all that apply.)
- To demonstrate support for a candidate, issue or political party: 42.22%
- To inform neighbors and passers-by of my political stance: 18.33%
- To encourage civic engagement: 16.65%
- To sway uninformed voters: 7.83%
Demographic insights:
Politics: Two times more Republicans indicate wanting to sway uninformed voters (11.9%) than Democrats (5.7%).
Region: Homeowners in swing states that voted for Trump in 2020 are most determined to inform neighbors and passers-by of their political stance (21.8%), encourage civic engagement (18.2%) and sway uninformed voters (12.7%).
Age: At 36.8%, respondents ages 18 to 24 are over two times more likely than average to put up signs with the intention of informing neighbors and passers-by of their political views.
7. Where do you get political signs?
(Survey respondents could check all that apply.)
- Purchased directly from political campaigns: 25.17%
- Purchased online: 25.47%
- Gifted or given away for free: 15.26%
- Homemade: 11.3%
Demographic insights:
Politics: At 36%, Democratic respondents are more likely to purchase signs directly from political campaigns, compared with just 23.5% of Republican respondents.
Education: Those with a doctorate, advanced or professional degree are nearly two times more likely to buy signs directly from political campaigns (47.5%). At 17.2%, those with no schooling completed are most likely to put up homemade signs.
Methodology
LawnStarter collected survey responses from a random sample of 1,009 U.S. homeowners aged 18 or older via Alchemer and Cint on Sept. 24, 2024.
Each response was anonymized using a unique user ID generated and assigned by Cint.