Mecosta County, Michigan: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+30%. Republican peak: R+63 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+30MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 41,2422024 5-year
- Median household income
- $60,9512024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+10 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+63 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Oceana County, MI · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Mecosta CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Mecosta 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 | −12.8% |
| 1896 | −18.3% |
| 1900 | −33.3% |
| 1904 | −55.3% |
| 1908 | −37.3% |
| 1912 | −2.6% |
| 1916 | −22.8% |
| 1920 | −53.0% |
| 1924 | −61.2% |
| 1928 | −62.6% |
| 1932 | −2.8% |
| 1936 | −8.8% |
| 1940 | −37.6% |
| 1944 | −41.9% |
| 1948 | −40.1% |
| 1952 | −54.2% |
| 1956 | −51.2% |
| 1960 | −38.0% |
| 1964 | +9.9% |
| 1968 | −27.5% |
| 1972 | −30.2% |
| 1976 | −21.0% |
| 1980 | −17.4% |
| 1984 | −37.9% |
| 1988 | −26.5% |
| 1992 | +0.3% |
| 1996 | +8.2% |
| 2000 | −12.0% |
| 2004 | −11.3% |
| 2008 | −0.7% |
| 2012 | −9.8% |
| 2016 | −25.9% |
| 2020 | −28.0% |
| 2024 | −30.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 7,688 | 14,445 | 22,521 | ||
| R | 7,375 | 13,267 | 21,049 | ||
| R | 5,827 | 10,305 | 17,259 | ||
| R | 7,515 | 9,176 | 16,980 | ||
| R | 9,101 | 9,238 | 18,664 | ||
| R | 7,730 | 9,710 | 17,581 | ||
| R | 6,300 | 8,072 | 14,754 | ||
| D | 6,370 | 5,289 | 13,124 | ||
| D | 6,097 | 6,047 | 15,835 | ||
| R | 4,736 | 8,181 | 12,981 | ||
| R | 4,048 | 9,023 | 13,142 | ||
| R | 5,228 | 7,754 | 14,528 | ||
| R | 4,725 | 7,287 | 12,221 | ||
| R | 3,799 | 7,158 | 11,134 | ||
| R | 2,738 | 5,053 | 8,426 | ||
| D | 4,214 | 3,454 | 7,677 | ||
| R | 2,380 | 5,306 | 7,703 | ||
| R | 1,768 | 5,492 | 7,279 | ||
| R | 1,587 | 5,436 | 7,102 | ||
| R | 1,572 | 3,803 | 5,557 | ||
| R | 1,708 | 4,217 | 5,995 | ||
| R | 2,153 | 4,759 | 6,932 | ||
| R | 2,621 | 3,176 | 6,341 | ||
| R | 3,152 | 3,336 | 6,635 | ||
| R | 1,004 | 4,422 | 5,463 | ||
| R | 794 | 3,884 | 5,047 | ||
| R | 1,145 | 3,932 | 5,258 | ||
| R | 1,478 | 2,455 | 4,279 | ||
| O | 958 | 1,059 | 3,945 | ||
| R | 1,179 | 2,723 | 4,136 | ||
| R | 898 | 3,313 | 4,365 | ||
| R | 1,375 | 2,802 | 4,282 | ||
| R | 1,975 | 2,887 | 4,995 | ||
| R | 1,484 | 1,970 | 3,806 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.6%
English
13.2%
Irish
11.0%
Polish
5.5%
American
3.7%
French
3.3%
Italian
2.2%
African American
1.8%
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: 40.0 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
$60,951
Mecosta County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Mecosta County$60,951
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Mecosta County ranks near the middle 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
19.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.6%
Working age (18–64)19.5%
Seniors (65+)10.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.9%
speak English only
Other Indo-European4.3%
Spanish1.5%
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 70.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Mecosta County, anchored by Big Rapids and Ferris State University, blends a small college-town footprint with a predominantly rural, non-Hispanic white electorate that has shifted steadily rightward over the past decade, reaching R+30 in 2024.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-three points in 1928. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty points.
A population of 41,242, a 90% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $60,951 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Oceana County and Crawford 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.
Mecosta County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26107/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Mecosta County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Mecosta County, Michigan voted Republican by 30.0 points (R+30), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 22,521 votes cast, 7,688 went Democratic and 14,445 went Republican.
What is Mecosta County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Mecosta County, Michigan in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. 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 Mecosta County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Mecosta County, Michigan voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Mecosta County, Michigan?
Mecosta County, Michigan has a population of 41,242 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Mecosta County, Michigan?
Median household income in Mecosta County, Michigan is $60,951 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Mecosta County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Mecosta County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 30 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.