Ottawa County, Michigan: Realigning Affluent Suburb county. In 2024, voted R+20%. Republican peak: R+71 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+20MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Realigning Affluent SuburbAkashic typology
- Population
- 301,2032024 5-year
- Median household income
- $90,5022024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 84.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+2 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+71 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Hendricks County, IN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Ottawa CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Ottawa 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 | −9.0% |
| 1896 | −18.3% |
| 1900 | −26.6% |
| 1904 | −55.5% |
| 1908 | −37.7% |
| 1912 | +2.4% |
| 1916 | −15.8% |
| 1920 | −60.9% |
| 1924 | −66.0% |
| 1928 | −71.5% |
| 1932 | −19.8% |
| 1936 | −7.1% |
| 1940 | −25.5% |
| 1944 | −33.2% |
| 1948 | −28.6% |
| 1952 | −47.3% |
| 1956 | −50.1% |
| 1960 | −50.8% |
| 1964 | −9.7% |
| 1968 | −42.4% |
| 1972 | −46.2% |
| 1976 | −49.4% |
| 1980 | −43.4% |
| 1984 | −59.8% |
| 1988 | −52.9% |
| 1992 | −36.0% |
| 1996 | −36.1% |
| 2000 | −44.4% |
| 2004 | −43.9% |
| 2008 | −23.9% |
| 2012 | −34.2% |
| 2016 | −30.2% |
| 2020 | −21.5% |
| 2024 | −20.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 69,653 | 106,133 | 178,513 | ||
| R | 64,705 | 100,913 | 168,713 | ||
| R | 44,973 | 88,467 | 143,848 | ||
| R | 42,737 | 88,166 | 132,757 | ||
| R | 50,828 | 83,330 | 136,268 | ||
| R | 35,552 | 92,048 | 128,643 | ||
| R | 29,600 | 78,703 | 110,599 | ||
| R | 27,024 | 61,436 | 95,416 | ||
| R | 22,180 | 56,862 | 96,211 | ||
| R | 18,769 | 61,515 | 80,729 | ||
| R | 15,000 | 60,142 | 75,468 | ||
| R | 18,435 | 51,217 | 75,484 | ||
| R | 16,381 | 49,196 | 66,370 | ||
| R | 15,119 | 42,169 | 58,576 | ||
| R | 12,431 | 33,356 | 49,342 | ||
| R | 20,151 | 24,512 | 44,735 | ||
| R | 10,617 | 32,678 | 43,423 | ||
| R | 9,459 | 28,611 | 38,200 | ||
| R | 7,835 | 22,328 | 30,657 | ||
| R | 8,789 | 16,028 | 25,288 | ||
| R | 8,511 | 17,077 | 25,786 | ||
| R | 9,152 | 15,462 | 24,784 | ||
| R | 9,579 | 11,114 | 21,645 | ||
| R | 7,981 | 12,076 | 20,700 | ||
| R | 2,524 | 15,417 | 18,035 | ||
| R | 1,871 | 11,688 | 14,880 | ||
| R | 2,391 | 10,528 | 13,370 | ||
| R | 3,941 | 5,484 | 9,760 | ||
| O | 2,036 | 1,825 | 8,746 | ||
| R | 2,429 | 5,642 | 8,516 | ||
| R | 1,553 | 5,908 | 7,843 | ||
| R | 3,050 | 5,324 | 8,558 | ||
| R | 3,550 | 5,188 | 8,937 | ||
| R | 2,996 | 3,643 | 7,169 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
18.5%
English
9.6%
Irish
8.2%
Polish
5.5%
American
3.6%
Italian
2.9%
French
2.1%
African American
1.3%
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: 36.5 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
$90,502
Ottawa County ranks in the top 10% of US counties.
Ottawa County$90,502
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Ottawa County ranks in the top 10% 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
8.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 187.6%
Working age (18–64)8.6%
Seniors (65+)8.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.9%
speak English only
Spanish5.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.7%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Ottawa County's Dutch Reformed heritage and suburban-rural mix have anchored it among Michigan's most reliably Republican counties for decades, with the 2024 presidential margin landing at R+20.4 despite modest population growth drawing in new residents.
Once reliably Republican — a margin of seventy-one points in 1928 at its widest — Ottawa County has trended Democratic. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty points.
A median household income of $90,502 — among the higher at this geographic scale — and a population of 301,203 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Hendricks County and Cumberland 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.
Ottawa County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26139/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Ottawa County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Ottawa County, Michigan voted Republican by 20.4 points (R+20), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 178,513 votes cast, 69,653 went Democratic and 106,133 went Republican.
What is Ottawa County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Ottawa 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 0 times, Republican 33 times, and other 1 times.
How many people live in Ottawa County, Michigan?
Ottawa County, Michigan has a population of 301,203 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ottawa County, Michigan?
Median household income in Ottawa County, Michigan is $90,502 — above the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Ottawa County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Ottawa County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 0 went Democratic and 33 went Republican. The county's typology — "Realigning Affluent Suburb" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.