Arenac County, Michigan: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+41%. Republican peak: R+46 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+41MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 15,0772024 5-year
- Median household income
- $58,8112024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+27 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+46 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Ogemaw County, MI · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Arenac CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Arenac County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | +4.4% |
| 1896 | +23.6% |
| 1900 | −5.8% |
| 1904 | −45.8% |
| 1908 | −19.1% |
| 1912 | +1.6% |
| 1916 | +1.4% |
| 1920 | −37.2% |
| 1924 | −45.6% |
| 1928 | −36.3% |
| 1932 | +16.8% |
| 1936 | +7.4% |
| 1940 | −20.9% |
| 1944 | −21.3% |
| 1948 | −19.3% |
| 1952 | −36.0% |
| 1956 | −26.7% |
| 1960 | −10.9% |
| 1964 | +26.6% |
| 1968 | −12.9% |
| 1972 | −16.8% |
| 1976 | +0.1% |
| 1980 | −13.8% |
| 1984 | −17.6% |
| 1988 | +2.3% |
| 1992 | +12.7% |
| 1996 | +18.6% |
| 2000 | +3.6% |
| 2004 | +0.1% |
| 2008 | +4.3% |
| 2012 | −4.9% |
| 2016 | −33.2% |
| 2020 | −35.7% |
| 2024 | −40.6% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,662 | 6,379 | 9,163 | ||
| R | 2,774 | 5,928 | 8,831 | ||
| R | 2,384 | 4,950 | 7,729 | ||
| R | 3,669 | 4,057 | 7,841 | ||
| D | 4,155 | 3,807 | 8,128 | ||
| D | 4,076 | 4,071 | 8,216 | ||
| D | 3,685 | 3,421 | 7,267 | ||
| D | 3,472 | 2,247 | 6,591 | ||
| D | 3,244 | 2,330 | 7,206 | ||
| D | 3,211 | 3,064 | 6,300 | ||
| R | 2,436 | 3,483 | 5,941 | ||
| R | 2,547 | 3,436 | 6,431 | ||
| D | 2,695 | 2,687 | 5,423 | ||
| R | 1,829 | 2,588 | 4,506 | ||
| R | 1,573 | 2,089 | 3,989 | ||
| D | 2,436 | 1,413 | 3,852 | ||
| R | 1,888 | 2,352 | 4,250 | ||
| R | 1,520 | 2,631 | 4,155 | ||
| R | 1,290 | 2,753 | 4,064 | ||
| R | 1,203 | 1,790 | 3,041 | ||
| R | 1,280 | 1,978 | 3,271 | ||
| R | 1,499 | 2,293 | 3,807 | ||
| D | 1,761 | 1,505 | 3,460 | ||
| D | 2,086 | 1,471 | 3,666 | ||
| R | 749 | 1,612 | 2,375 | ||
| R | 575 | 1,767 | 2,615 | ||
| R | 669 | 1,521 | 2,292 | ||
| D | 938 | 911 | 1,944 | ||
| O | 452 | 421 | 1,989 | ||
| R | 714 | 1,081 | 1,924 | ||
| R | 458 | 1,372 | 1,995 | ||
| R | 861 | 972 | 1,905 | ||
| D | 997 | 611 | 1,634 | ||
| O | 373 | 322 | 1,158 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
26.9%
Polish
15.5%
Irish
11.8%
English
11.3%
French
8.7%
American
4.0%
Italian
2.5%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 50.2 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$58,811
Arenac County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Arenac County$58,811
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Arenac County ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.9%
Working age (18–64)11.6%
Seniors (65+)8.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.5%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.4%
Spanish0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 71.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Arenac's population of roughly 17,000 sits along Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay shore, and its presidential margins have shifted steadily rightward over the past two decades, reaching R+40.6 in 2024.
The Democratic margin here peaked at twenty-seven points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-one points.
A population of 15,077, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $58,811 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Ogemaw County and Yellow Medicine County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Arenac County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26011/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Arenac County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Arenac County, Michigan voted Republican by 40.6 points (R+41), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,163 votes cast, 2,662 went Democratic and 6,379 went Republican.
What is Arenac County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Arenac County, Michigan in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 12 times, Republican 20 times, and other 2 times.
When did Arenac County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Arenac County, Michigan voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Arenac County, Michigan?
Arenac County, Michigan has a population of 15,077 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Arenac County, Michigan?
Median household income in Arenac County, Michigan is $58,811 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Arenac County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Arenac County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.