Clare County, Michigan: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+38%. Republican peak: R+66 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+38MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 31,2182024 5-year
- Median household income
- $49,3842024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+22 in 1996MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+66 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Alpena County, MI · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Clare CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Clare 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 | +5.4% |
| 1896 | −9.8% |
| 1900 | −29.2% |
| 1904 | −45.6% |
| 1908 | −39.4% |
| 1912 | −7.0% |
| 1916 | −14.5% |
| 1920 | −52.2% |
| 1924 | −63.2% |
| 1928 | −66.2% |
| 1932 | +8.0% |
| 1936 | −13.1% |
| 1940 | −40.2% |
| 1944 | −41.7% |
| 1948 | −34.6% |
| 1952 | −53.3% |
| 1956 | −51.3% |
| 1960 | −41.1% |
| 1964 | +12.9% |
| 1968 | −24.1% |
| 1972 | −28.2% |
| 1976 | −8.0% |
| 1980 | −14.5% |
| 1984 | −27.1% |
| 1988 | −9.1% |
| 1992 | +11.8% |
| 1996 | +22.0% |
| 2000 | +2.8% |
| 2004 | −0.7% |
| 2008 | +4.8% |
| 2012 | −4.8% |
| 2016 | −31.6% |
| 2020 | −34.8% |
| 2024 | −37.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,273 | 11,772 | 17,310 | ||
| R | 5,199 | 10,861 | 16,281 | ||
| R | 4,249 | 8,505 | 13,449 | ||
| R | 6,338 | 6,988 | 13,535 | ||
| D | 7,496 | 6,793 | 14,567 | ||
| R | 6,984 | 7,088 | 14,226 | ||
| D | 6,287 | 5,937 | 12,607 | ||
| D | 6,311 | 3,742 | 11,683 | ||
| D | 5,346 | 3,916 | 12,163 | ||
| R | 4,710 | 5,661 | 10,448 | ||
| R | 3,764 | 6,587 | 10,412 | ||
| R | 4,164 | 5,719 | 10,718 | ||
| R | 4,153 | 4,879 | 9,126 | ||
| R | 2,434 | 4,402 | 6,988 | ||
| R | 1,909 | 3,315 | 5,831 | ||
| D | 2,927 | 2,258 | 5,197 | ||
| R | 1,507 | 3,616 | 5,130 | ||
| R | 1,194 | 3,721 | 4,928 | ||
| R | 1,059 | 3,529 | 4,630 | ||
| R | 1,197 | 2,512 | 3,805 | ||
| R | 1,078 | 2,636 | 3,735 | ||
| R | 1,277 | 3,004 | 4,300 | ||
| R | 1,494 | 1,979 | 3,708 | ||
| D | 1,741 | 1,474 | 3,324 | ||
| R | 381 | 1,920 | 2,324 | ||
| R | 358 | 1,920 | 2,472 | ||
| R | 511 | 1,762 | 2,398 | ||
| R | 769 | 1,049 | 1,929 | ||
| O | 435 | 563 | 1,817 | ||
| R | 567 | 1,345 | 1,974 | ||
| R | 519 | 1,453 | 2,049 | ||
| R | 640 | 1,182 | 1,858 | ||
| R | 723 | 886 | 1,669 | ||
| D | 811 | 719 | 1,716 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
21.5%
English
16.5%
Irish
12.1%
American
5.6%
Polish
5.2%
Italian
3.1%
French
3.0%
African American
0.9%
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: 49.0 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
$49,384
Clare County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Clare County$49,384
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Clare County ranks in the bottom 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
21.6%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1831.0%
Working age (18–64)20.2%
Seniors (65+)14.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.5%
speak English only
Other Indo-European4.6%
Spanish0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 68.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Clare County, anchored by the small city of Clare, has shifted decisively toward Republican presidential candidates over the past two decades. Its largely rural, working-class population gave the GOP nominee a 37-point margin in 2024, among the widest in the Lower Peninsula.
The Democratic margin here peaked at twenty-two points in 1996. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-eight points.
A population of 31,218, a 94% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $49,384 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Alpena County and Roscommon 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.
Clare County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26035/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Clare County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Clare County, Michigan voted Republican by 37.5 points (R+38), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 17,310 votes cast, 5,273 went Democratic and 11,772 went Republican.
What is Clare County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Clare 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 7 times, Republican 26 times, and other 1 times.
When did Clare County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Clare County, Michigan voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Clare County, Michigan?
Clare County, Michigan has a population of 31,218 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Clare County, Michigan?
Median household income in Clare County, Michigan is $49,384 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Clare County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Clare County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.