Grand Traverse County, Michigan: Realigning Affluent Suburb county. In 2024, voted R+2%. Republican peak: R+67 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+2MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Realigning Affluent SuburbAkashic typology
- Population
- 96,1662024 5-year
- Median household income
- $81,6472024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+9 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+67 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Inyo County, CA · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Grand Traverse CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Grand Traverse 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 | −25.6% |
| 1896 | −17.8% |
| 1900 | −40.3% |
| 1904 | −67.1% |
| 1908 | −35.7% |
| 1912 | +1.0% |
| 1916 | −1.6% |
| 1920 | −52.9% |
| 1924 | −64.4% |
| 1928 | −49.5% |
| 1932 | +6.2% |
| 1936 | +1.9% |
| 1940 | −28.9% |
| 1944 | −34.7% |
| 1948 | −38.8% |
| 1952 | −54.6% |
| 1956 | −47.2% |
| 1960 | −27.6% |
| 1964 | +9.3% |
| 1968 | −29.0% |
| 1972 | −31.8% |
| 1976 | −29.5% |
| 1980 | −29.7% |
| 1984 | −42.3% |
| 1988 | −25.8% |
| 1992 | −7.2% |
| 1996 | −10.1% |
| 2000 | −20.9% |
| 2004 | −19.9% |
| 2008 | −3.0% |
| 2012 | −11.7% |
| 2016 | −12.4% |
| 2020 | −3.0% |
| 2024 | −1.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 30,339 | 31,423 | 62,887 | ||
| R | 28,683 | 30,502 | 60,236 | ||
| R | 20,965 | 27,413 | 51,985 | ||
| R | 20,875 | 26,534 | 48,197 | ||
| R | 23,258 | 24,716 | 48,733 | ||
| R | 18,256 | 27,446 | 46,191 | ||
| R | 14,371 | 22,358 | 38,229 | ||
| R | 12,987 | 16,355 | 33,329 | ||
| R | 11,148 | 13,629 | 34,461 | ||
| R | 10,098 | 17,191 | 27,525 | ||
| R | 7,271 | 18,036 | 25,464 | ||
| R | 7,150 | 14,484 | 24,706 | ||
| R | 7,263 | 13,505 | 21,150 | ||
| R | 5,810 | 11,421 | 17,621 | ||
| R | 4,741 | 8,960 | 14,567 | ||
| D | 7,475 | 6,198 | 13,693 | ||
| R | 4,886 | 8,618 | 13,540 | ||
| R | 3,256 | 9,102 | 12,388 | ||
| R | 2,639 | 9,034 | 11,711 | ||
| R | 2,365 | 5,473 | 8,015 | ||
| R | 2,607 | 5,413 | 8,075 | ||
| R | 3,095 | 5,620 | 8,745 | ||
| D | 3,827 | 3,676 | 7,980 | ||
| D | 3,907 | 3,442 | 7,531 | ||
| R | 1,489 | 4,429 | 5,940 | ||
| R | 558 | 4,011 | 5,358 | ||
| R | 1,158 | 4,056 | 5,478 | ||
| R | 1,848 | 1,917 | 4,185 | ||
| O | 937 | 899 | 3,867 | ||
| R | 1,289 | 2,811 | 4,267 | ||
| R | 594 | 3,383 | 4,156 | ||
| R | 1,286 | 3,127 | 4,573 | ||
| R | 1,745 | 2,533 | 4,428 | ||
| R | 924 | 1,734 | 3,170 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.4%
English
17.5%
Irish
14.2%
Polish
8.9%
French
4.6%
American
4.4%
Italian
3.8%
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: 43.5 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
$81,647
Grand Traverse County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Grand Traverse County$81,647
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Grand Traverse 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
9.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.2%
Working age (18–64)8.3%
Seniors (65+)10.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.4%
Other Indo-European0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 69.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Grand Traverse County, anchored by Traverse City and its growing professional class, has shifted markedly toward competitive status over the past decade, compressing a presidential margin that once ran well into double digits.
Once reliably Republican — a margin of sixty-seven points in 1904 at its widest — Grand Traverse County has trended Democratic. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was two points.
A median household income of $81,647 — among the higher at this geographic scale — and a population of 96,166 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Inyo County and Spotsylvania 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.
Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26055/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More realigning affluent suburb counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Grand Traverse County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Grand Traverse County, Michigan voted Republican by 1.7 points (R+2), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 62,887 votes cast, 30,339 went Democratic and 31,423 went Republican.
What is Grand Traverse County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Grand Traverse County, Michigan in the "Realigning Affluent Suburb" typology — College-educated, affluent suburbs — the one bloc moving toward the Democratic 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 3 times, Republican 30 times, and other 1 times.
When did Grand Traverse County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Grand Traverse County, Michigan voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Grand Traverse County, Michigan?
Grand Traverse County, Michigan has a population of 96,166 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Grand Traverse County, Michigan?
Median household income in Grand Traverse County, Michigan is $81,647 — above the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Grand Traverse County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Grand Traverse County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 30 went Republican. The county's typology — "Realigning Affluent Suburb" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.