Leelanau County, Michigan: Realigning Affluent Suburb county. In 2024, voted D+8%. Republican peak: R+67 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+8MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Realigning Affluent SuburbAkashic typology
- Population
- 22,7342024 5-year
- Median household income
- $99,4222024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+8 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+67 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Kent County, MI · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Leelanau CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Leelanau 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 | −13.4% |
| 1896 | −32.6% |
| 1900 | −38.9% |
| 1904 | −53.9% |
| 1908 | −36.5% |
| 1912 | −15.8% |
| 1916 | −12.1% |
| 1920 | −66.8% |
| 1924 | −62.7% |
| 1928 | −25.4% |
| 1932 | +6.6% |
| 1936 | −4.4% |
| 1940 | −32.5% |
| 1944 | −37.0% |
| 1948 | −39.1% |
| 1952 | −49.0% |
| 1956 | −39.7% |
| 1960 | −20.2% |
| 1964 | +6.6% |
| 1968 | −26.5% |
| 1972 | −33.8% |
| 1976 | −26.5% |
| 1980 | −28.2% |
| 1984 | −36.1% |
| 1988 | −21.9% |
| 1992 | −5.4% |
| 1996 | −11.1% |
| 2000 | −18.4% |
| 2004 | −12.1% |
| 2008 | +2.9% |
| 2012 | −6.4% |
| 2016 | −3.1% |
| 2020 | +5.2% |
| 2024 | +7.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 9,406 | 8,035 | 17,720 | ||
| D | 8,795 | 7,916 | 16,900 | ||
| R | 6,774 | 7,239 | 14,892 | ||
| R | 6,576 | 7,483 | 14,219 | ||
| D | 7,355 | 6,938 | 14,464 | ||
| R | 6,048 | 7,733 | 13,917 | ||
| R | 4,635 | 6,840 | 12,009 | ||
| R | 4,019 | 5,155 | 10,237 | ||
| R | 3,445 | 3,993 | 10,187 | ||
| R | 3,331 | 5,215 | 8,619 | ||
| R | 2,498 | 5,356 | 7,921 | ||
| R | 2,348 | 4,585 | 7,935 | ||
| R | 2,437 | 4,240 | 6,803 | ||
| R | 1,855 | 3,809 | 5,787 | ||
| R | 1,562 | 2,798 | 4,659 | ||
| D | 2,369 | 2,074 | 4,451 | ||
| R | 1,810 | 2,730 | 4,546 | ||
| R | 1,287 | 2,987 | 4,278 | ||
| R | 999 | 2,926 | 3,934 | ||
| R | 835 | 1,928 | 2,794 | ||
| R | 944 | 2,063 | 3,023 | ||
| R | 1,223 | 2,405 | 3,639 | ||
| R | 1,542 | 1,692 | 3,405 | ||
| D | 1,746 | 1,527 | 3,313 | ||
| R | 903 | 1,521 | 2,437 | ||
| R | 301 | 1,792 | 2,378 | ||
| R | 406 | 2,156 | 2,621 | ||
| R | 763 | 984 | 1,826 | ||
| O | 344 | 621 | 1,753 | ||
| R | 566 | 1,258 | 1,896 | ||
| R | 416 | 1,464 | 1,945 | ||
| R | 634 | 1,468 | 2,146 | ||
| R | 690 | 1,402 | 2,182 | ||
| R | 569 | 771 | 1,508 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
26.4%
English
17.0%
Irish
12.7%
Polish
11.1%
Scottish
5.0%
French
4.7%
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: 55.9 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
$99,422
Leelanau County ranks in the top 5% of US counties.
Leelanau County$99,422
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Leelanau County ranks in the top 5% 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
6.5%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.0%
Working age (18–64)5.6%
Seniors (65+)6.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.7%
speak English only
Spanish2.1%
Other Indo-European1.7%
Other languages0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 70.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Leelanau's blend of resort tourism, cherry farming, and an educated in-migrant population produces Democratic margins unusual for rural Michigan, where most similar counties trend sharply the other way.
Once reliably Republican — a margin of sixty-seven points in 1920 at its widest — Leelanau County has trended Democratic. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was eight points.
A median household income of $99,422 — among the higher at this geographic scale — and a population of 22,734 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Kent County and McLean 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.
Leelanau County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26089/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More realigning affluent suburb counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Leelanau County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Leelanau County, Michigan voted Democratic by 7.7 points (D+8), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 17,720 votes cast, 9,406 went Democratic and 8,035 went Republican.
What is Leelanau County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Leelanau 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 5 times, Republican 28 times, and other 1 times.
When did Leelanau County, Michigan last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Leelanau County, Michigan voted Republican was 2016.
How many people live in Leelanau County, Michigan?
Leelanau County, Michigan has a population of 22,734 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Leelanau County, Michigan?
Median household income in Leelanau County, Michigan is $99,422 — above the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Leelanau County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Leelanau County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Realigning Affluent Suburb" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.