Benzie County, Michigan: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+9%. Republican peak: R+70 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+9MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 18,3102024 5-year
- Median household income
- $74,8342024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+8 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+70 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Mason County, MI · similarity 0.94
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Benzie CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Benzie 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 | −18.7% |
| 1896 | −24.9% |
| 1900 | −38.1% |
| 1904 | −60.3% |
| 1908 | −38.8% |
| 1912 | −12.7% |
| 1916 | −6.8% |
| 1920 | −52.0% |
| 1924 | −66.2% |
| 1928 | −69.6% |
| 1932 | −5.1% |
| 1936 | −1.5% |
| 1940 | −23.7% |
| 1944 | −30.0% |
| 1948 | −34.0% |
| 1952 | −47.0% |
| 1956 | −42.8% |
| 1960 | −31.0% |
| 1964 | +8.4% |
| 1968 | −28.2% |
| 1972 | −33.9% |
| 1976 | −23.7% |
| 1980 | −22.0% |
| 1984 | −31.3% |
| 1988 | −14.0% |
| 1992 | +4.0% |
| 1996 | +3.3% |
| 2000 | −7.8% |
| 2004 | −9.2% |
| 2008 | +7.4% |
| 2012 | −3.9% |
| 2016 | −14.0% |
| 2020 | −9.1% |
| 2024 | −8.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,780 | 6,895 | 12,871 | ||
| R | 5,480 | 6,601 | 12,262 | ||
| R | 4,108 | 5,539 | 10,228 | ||
| R | 4,685 | 5,075 | 9,901 | ||
| D | 5,451 | 4,687 | 10,309 | ||
| R | 4,383 | 5,284 | 9,778 | ||
| R | 3,546 | 4,172 | 8,072 | ||
| D | 3,081 | 2,856 | 6,785 | ||
| D | 2,715 | 2,438 | 6,852 | ||
| R | 2,437 | 3,240 | 5,732 | ||
| R | 1,866 | 3,590 | 5,502 | ||
| R | 1,842 | 3,054 | 5,498 | ||
| R | 1,891 | 3,085 | 5,038 | ||
| R | 1,310 | 2,686 | 4,054 | ||
| R | 1,147 | 2,138 | 3,510 | ||
| D | 1,983 | 1,674 | 3,662 | ||
| R | 1,306 | 2,484 | 3,795 | ||
| R | 1,046 | 2,620 | 3,681 | ||
| R | 980 | 2,752 | 3,768 | ||
| R | 964 | 2,013 | 3,089 | ||
| R | 1,084 | 2,026 | 3,142 | ||
| R | 1,429 | 2,320 | 3,765 | ||
| R | 1,686 | 1,742 | 3,658 | ||
| R | 1,432 | 1,595 | 3,176 | ||
| R | 321 | 1,849 | 2,194 | ||
| R | 198 | 1,922 | 2,603 | ||
| R | 422 | 1,520 | 2,111 | ||
| R | 770 | 900 | 1,907 | ||
| O | 326 | 568 | 1,913 | ||
| R | 551 | 1,437 | 2,282 | ||
| R | 295 | 1,582 | 2,136 | ||
| R | 626 | 1,472 | 2,221 | ||
| R | 803 | 1,366 | 2,262 | ||
| R | 498 | 774 | 1,475 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
21.6%
English
18.0%
Irish
13.4%
Polish
5.9%
American
4.5%
French
4.1%
Scottish
3.2%
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: 50.8 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
$74,834
Benzie County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Benzie County$74,834
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Benzie County ranks in the top 25% 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
9.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.3%
Working age (18–64)9.7%
Seniors (65+)9.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.0%
speak English only
Spanish0.9%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
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 77.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Benzie sits along Lake Michigan's eastern shore with a population under 16,000, and its presidential margins have shifted notably since 2012, making it a useful bellwether for rural northwestern Michigan's political drift.
The Republican margin here reached seventy points in 1928. The 2024 margin was nine points.
A population of 18,310, a 92% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $74,834 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Mason County and Vanderburgh 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.
Benzie County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26019/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Benzie County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Benzie County, Michigan voted Republican by 8.7 points (R+9), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 12,871 votes cast, 5,780 went Democratic and 6,895 went Republican.
What is Benzie County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Benzie County, Michigan in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. 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 4 times, Republican 29 times, and other 1 times.
When did Benzie County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Benzie County, Michigan voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Benzie County, Michigan?
Benzie County, Michigan has a population of 18,310 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Benzie County, Michigan?
Median household income in Benzie County, Michigan is $74,834 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Benzie County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Benzie County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 4 went Democratic and 29 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.