Kent County, Michigan: Diversifying Metro county. In 2024, voted D+5%. Republican peak: R+63 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+5MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Diversifying MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 663,1502024 5-year
- Median household income
- $82,6312024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 72.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 9.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+13 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+63 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Frederick County, MD · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Kent CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Kent 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 | −3.2% |
| 1896 | −11.1% |
| 1900 | −12.5% |
| 1904 | −48.9% |
| 1908 | −17.2% |
| 1912 | +9.1% |
| 1916 | +11.3% |
| 1920 | −44.8% |
| 1924 | −63.1% |
| 1928 | −50.9% |
| 1932 | −0.7% |
| 1936 | +9.6% |
| 1940 | −4.8% |
| 1944 | −10.6% |
| 1948 | −10.6% |
| 1952 | −25.3% |
| 1956 | −31.9% |
| 1960 | −21.7% |
| 1964 | +13.0% |
| 1968 | −15.0% |
| 1972 | −20.8% |
| 1976 | −35.9% |
| 1980 | −19.3% |
| 1984 | −34.7% |
| 1988 | −28.3% |
| 1992 | −13.6% |
| 1996 | −15.9% |
| 2000 | −21.2% |
| 2004 | −18.7% |
| 2008 | +0.5% |
| 2012 | −7.7% |
| 2016 | −3.1% |
| 2020 | +6.1% |
| 2024 | +5.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 192,668 | 172,720 | 372,930 | ||
| D | 187,915 | 165,741 | 361,048 | ||
| R | 138,683 | 148,180 | 310,894 | ||
| R | 133,408 | 155,925 | 294,206 | ||
| D | 149,909 | 148,336 | 303,235 | ||
| R | 116,909 | 171,201 | 290,891 | ||
| R | 95,442 | 148,602 | 250,318 | ||
| R | 85,912 | 121,335 | 223,379 | ||
| R | 82,305 | 115,285 | 242,553 | ||
| R | 73,467 | 131,910 | 206,842 | ||
| R | 66,238 | 137,417 | 205,020 | ||
| R | 72,790 | 112,604 | 206,290 | ||
| R | 59,000 | 126,805 | 188,633 | ||
| R | 67,587 | 104,041 | 175,461 | ||
| R | 61,891 | 85,810 | 159,850 | ||
| D | 86,860 | 66,830 | 153,959 | ||
| R | 61,313 | 95,477 | 157,296 | ||
| R | 48,871 | 94,969 | 144,482 | ||
| R | 47,221 | 79,647 | 128,315 | ||
| R | 43,205 | 53,669 | 98,776 | ||
| R | 43,679 | 54,163 | 99,116 | ||
| R | 48,196 | 53,131 | 102,076 | ||
| D | 44,823 | 36,633 | 85,304 | ||
| R | 41,601 | 42,186 | 86,723 | ||
| R | 18,229 | 56,573 | 75,310 | ||
| R | 7,982 | 45,207 | 59,008 | ||
| R | 14,763 | 40,802 | 58,175 | ||
| D | 20,364 | 16,095 | 37,903 | ||
| O | 9,412 | 6,498 | 31,926 | ||
| R | 11,445 | 16,576 | 29,901 | ||
| R | 6,430 | 20,254 | 28,277 | ||
| R | 13,775 | 17,861 | 32,598 | ||
| R | 13,582 | 17,053 | 31,384 | ||
| R | 11,533 | 12,388 | 26,750 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.1%
English
9.9%
Irish
9.2%
Polish
6.3%
Italian
3.1%
American
2.7%
French
2.1%
African American
7.8%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 35.9 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
$82,631
Kent County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Kent County$82,631
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Kent 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
10.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.0%
Working age (18–64)9.0%
Seniors (65+)10.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
86.9%
speak English only
Spanish7.4%
Other Indo-European2.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.0%
Other languages1.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 57.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Once reliably Republican, Kent County's urban-suburban shift around Grand Rapids has gradually narrowed margins, flipping the county to a modest Democratic lean in recent presidential cycles while remaining a genuine battleground at other levels.
The Democratic margin here reached thirteen points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was five points.
A population of 663,150, a 73% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $82,631 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Frederick County and Chesterfield 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.
Kent County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26081/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More diversifying metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Kent County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Kent County, Michigan voted Democratic by 5.3 points (D+5), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 372,930 votes cast, 192,668 went Democratic and 172,720 went Republican.
What is Kent County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Kent County, Michigan in the "Diversifying Metro" typology — Mid-size metropolitan counties growing more diverse and trending Democratic. 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 6 times, Republican 27 times, and other 1 times.
When did Kent County, Michigan last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Kent County, Michigan voted Republican was 2016.
How many people live in Kent County, Michigan?
Kent County, Michigan has a population of 663,150 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Kent County, Michigan?
Median household income in Kent County, Michigan is $82,631 — above the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Kent County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Kent County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The county's typology — "Diversifying Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.