Lake County, Michigan: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+32%. Republican peak: R+61 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+32MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 12,5632024 5-year
- Median household income
- $50,8052024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 8.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 9.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+43 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+61 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Mercer County, IL · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Lake CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Lake 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 | −2.8% |
| 1896 | −23.3% |
| 1900 | −40.2% |
| 1904 | −60.9% |
| 1908 | −43.0% |
| 1912 | −4.3% |
| 1916 | −24.9% |
| 1920 | −53.7% |
| 1924 | −48.6% |
| 1928 | −47.0% |
| 1932 | +10.8% |
| 1936 | +9.9% |
| 1940 | −13.7% |
| 1944 | −18.0% |
| 1948 | −10.9% |
| 1952 | −15.7% |
| 1956 | −19.7% |
| 1960 | −4.6% |
| 1964 | +42.9% |
| 1968 | +13.9% |
| 1972 | +0.5% |
| 1976 | +15.3% |
| 1980 | +7.8% |
| 1984 | −7.0% |
| 1988 | +6.6% |
| 1992 | +25.5% |
| 1996 | +31.7% |
| 2000 | +13.3% |
| 2004 | +3.3% |
| 2008 | +12.3% |
| 2012 | +5.0% |
| 2016 | −22.8% |
| 2020 | −26.2% |
| 2024 | −32.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,298 | 4,523 | 6,930 | ||
| R | 2,288 | 3,946 | 6,323 | ||
| R | 1,939 | 3,159 | 5,358 | ||
| D | 2,752 | 2,487 | 5,310 | ||
| D | 2,919 | 2,269 | 5,292 | ||
| D | 2,675 | 2,503 | 5,246 | ||
| D | 2,584 | 1,961 | 4,693 | ||
| D | 2,606 | 1,213 | 4,394 | ||
| D | 2,351 | 1,194 | 4,546 | ||
| D | 1,958 | 1,713 | 3,698 | ||
| R | 1,845 | 2,125 | 4,003 | ||
| D | 2,041 | 1,730 | 4,003 | ||
| D | 2,179 | 1,598 | 3,808 | ||
| D | 1,548 | 1,532 | 3,131 | ||
| D | 1,482 | 1,094 | 2,798 | ||
| D | 1,978 | 791 | 2,770 | ||
| R | 1,313 | 1,441 | 2,757 | ||
| R | 1,083 | 1,614 | 2,699 | ||
| R | 1,127 | 1,549 | 2,696 | ||
| R | 1,077 | 1,348 | 2,490 | ||
| R | 794 | 1,145 | 1,946 | ||
| R | 1,070 | 1,413 | 2,495 | ||
| D | 1,337 | 1,091 | 2,493 | ||
| D | 1,241 | 991 | 2,312 | ||
| R | 409 | 1,147 | 1,570 | ||
| R | 313 | 1,069 | 1,554 | ||
| R | 261 | 926 | 1,238 | ||
| R | 347 | 588 | 969 | ||
| O | 186 | 227 | 945 | ||
| R | 253 | 673 | 977 | ||
| R | 211 | 907 | 1,142 | ||
| R | 350 | 841 | 1,221 | ||
| R | 547 | 888 | 1,465 | ||
| R | 610 | 648 | 1,356 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
14.7%
English
12.9%
Irish
10.0%
American
5.1%
Polish
3.7%
French
2.8%
Scottish
1.5%
African American
6.4%
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: 50.5 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
$50,805
Lake County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Lake County$50,805
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Lake 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
20.5%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1827.0%
Working age (18–64)20.4%
Seniors (65+)11.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.4%
speak English only
Spanish3.0%
Other Indo-European1.4%
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 68.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Lake County sits in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula with one of the state's smallest populations, yet its lopsided presidential margins—exceeding 30 points in 2024—reflect a broader rural realignment visible across the Great Lakes region.
The Democratic margin here peaked at forty-three points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved six points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-two points.
A population of 12,563, a 80% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $50,805 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Mercer County and Putnam 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.
Lake County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26085/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Lake County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Lake County, Michigan voted Republican by 32.1 points (R+32), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 6,930 votes cast, 2,298 went Democratic and 4,523 went Republican.
What is Lake County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Lake 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 14 times, Republican 19 times, and other 1 times.
When did Lake County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lake County, Michigan voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Lake County, Michigan?
Lake County, Michigan has a population of 12,563 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lake County, Michigan?
Median household income in Lake County, Michigan is $50,805 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Lake County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Lake County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 19 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.