Branch County, Michigan: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+42%. Republican peak: R+50 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 45,3002024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,7242024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 87.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+21 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Osceola County, MI · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Branch CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Branch County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | −16.9% |
| 1896 | +4.9% |
| 1900 | −11.1% |
| 1904 | −44.3% |
| 1908 | −20.3% |
| 1912 | +5.2% |
| 1916 | −0.6% |
| 1920 | −43.1% |
| 1924 | −40.5% |
| 1928 | −49.7% |
| 1932 | +9.6% |
| 1936 | −0.9% |
| 1940 | −26.2% |
| 1944 | −35.3% |
| 1948 | −29.1% |
| 1952 | −43.9% |
| 1956 | −39.5% |
| 1960 | −29.4% |
| 1964 | +21.1% |
| 1968 | −20.2% |
| 1972 | −25.9% |
| 1976 | −13.2% |
| 1980 | −34.4% |
| 1984 | −47.8% |
| 1988 | −27.5% |
| 1992 | −0.8% |
| 1996 | +1.7% |
| 2000 | −13.0% |
| 2004 | −21.0% |
| 2008 | −6.1% |
| 2012 | −18.2% |
| 2016 | −38.1% |
| 2020 | −38.5% |
| 2024 | −42.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,911 | 14,848 | 21,089 | ||
| R | 6,159 | 14,064 | 20,536 | ||
| R | 5,061 | 11,786 | 17,663 | ||
| R | 6,913 | 10,035 | 17,147 | ||
| R | 8,413 | 9,534 | 18,285 | ||
| R | 7,004 | 10,784 | 17,967 | ||
| R | 6,691 | 8,743 | 15,783 | ||
| D | 6,567 | 6,321 | 14,805 | ||
| R | 5,850 | 5,976 | 16,593 | ||
| R | 5,231 | 9,225 | 14,531 | ||
| R | 3,860 | 11,004 | 14,945 | ||
| R | 4,635 | 10,224 | 16,230 | ||
| R | 6,301 | 8,251 | 14,802 | ||
| R | 4,887 | 8,388 | 13,526 | ||
| R | 4,518 | 7,071 | 12,654 | ||
| D | 7,858 | 5,110 | 13,034 | ||
| R | 4,759 | 8,752 | 13,587 | ||
| R | 3,827 | 8,856 | 12,744 | ||
| R | 3,564 | 9,215 | 12,884 | ||
| R | 3,405 | 6,323 | 10,027 | ||
| R | 3,406 | 7,155 | 10,609 | ||
| R | 4,318 | 7,400 | 11,764 | ||
| R | 5,425 | 5,528 | 11,375 | ||
| D | 5,685 | 4,663 | 10,640 | ||
| R | 2,266 | 6,818 | 9,150 | ||
| R | 2,253 | 6,016 | 9,302 | ||
| R | 2,181 | 5,704 | 8,181 | ||
| R | 3,062 | 3,100 | 6,356 | ||
| D | 2,185 | 1,865 | 6,193 | ||
| R | 2,402 | 3,715 | 6,463 | ||
| R | 1,598 | 4,385 | 6,289 | ||
| R | 3,419 | 4,293 | 7,844 | ||
| D | 3,976 | 3,596 | 7,720 | ||
| R | 2,161 | 3,271 | 6,584 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
22.1%
English
12.1%
Irish
10.7%
American
5.6%
Polish
5.1%
Italian
2.0%
French
1.6%
African American
1.4%
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: 40.6 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
$63,724
Branch County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Branch County$63,724
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Branch 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
16.4%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1825.8%
Working age (18–64)13.6%
Seniors (65+)12.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
88.3%
speak English only
Other Indo-European4.6%
Spanish4.0%
Other languages2.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 66.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Branch County, anchored by Coldwater, posts presidential margins that routinely exceed 40 points Republican — an outlier even within a state where rural counties trend heavily red. Its manufacturing and agricultural base has tracked rightward for more than a decade.
The Republican margin here reached fifty points in 1928. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-two points.
A median household income of $63,724, a 88% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 45,300 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Osceola County and Kalkaska 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.
Branch County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26023/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More sunbelt conservative counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Branch County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Branch County, Michigan voted Republican by 42.4 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 21,089 votes cast, 5,911 went Democratic and 14,848 went Republican.
What is Branch County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Branch County, Michigan in the "Sunbelt Conservative" typology — Affluent, predominantly white Sunbelt counties — reliably Republican. 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 5 times, Republican 29 times, and other 0 times.
When did Branch County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Branch County, Michigan voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Branch County, Michigan?
Branch County, Michigan has a population of 45,300 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Branch County, Michigan?
Median household income in Branch County, Michigan is $63,724 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Branch County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Branch County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 29 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.