Sanilac County, Michigan: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+48%. Republican peak: R+74 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+48MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 40,4622024 5-year
- Median household income
- $58,8632024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Republican margin
- R+74 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Newaygo County, MI · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Sanilac CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Sanilac 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 | −16.6% |
| 1896 | −6.8% |
| 1900 | −32.3% |
| 1904 | −55.0% |
| 1908 | −44.6% |
| 1912 | −14.9% |
| 1916 | −41.6% |
| 1920 | −71.3% |
| 1924 | −73.8% |
| 1928 | −63.6% |
| 1932 | −24.8% |
| 1936 | −33.4% |
| 1940 | −64.6% |
| 1944 | −64.7% |
| 1948 | −57.2% |
| 1952 | −65.5% |
| 1956 | −57.9% |
| 1960 | −45.1% |
| 1964 | −9.5% |
| 1968 | −42.9% |
| 1972 | −47.9% |
| 1976 | −27.0% |
| 1980 | −40.1% |
| 1984 | −50.6% |
| 1988 | −32.1% |
| 1992 | −10.8% |
| 1996 | −4.2% |
| 2000 | −20.5% |
| 2004 | −22.9% |
| 2008 | −8.1% |
| 2012 | −20.3% |
| 2016 | −44.5% |
| 2020 | −45.6% |
| 2024 | −47.6% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,957 | 17,080 | 23,362 | ||
| R | 5,966 | 16,194 | 22,446 | ||
| R | 4,873 | 13,446 | 19,249 | ||
| R | 7,212 | 10,963 | 18,450 | ||
| R | 9,047 | 10,679 | 20,169 | ||
| R | 7,883 | 12,632 | 20,763 | ||
| R | 7,153 | 10,966 | 18,566 | ||
| R | 7,092 | 7,821 | 17,314 | ||
| R | 5,868 | 7,891 | 18,758 | ||
| R | 5,445 | 10,653 | 16,207 | ||
| R | 4,126 | 12,627 | 16,810 | ||
| R | 4,898 | 12,158 | 18,117 | ||
| R | 6,042 | 10,597 | 16,856 | ||
| R | 3,780 | 11,031 | 15,125 | ||
| R | 3,193 | 9,273 | 14,168 | ||
| R | 6,266 | 7,590 | 13,874 | ||
| R | 4,153 | 11,005 | 15,185 | ||
| R | 2,954 | 11,095 | 14,066 | ||
| R | 2,298 | 11,181 | 13,557 | ||
| R | 2,167 | 8,237 | 10,606 | ||
| R | 2,015 | 9,512 | 11,587 | ||
| R | 2,195 | 10,289 | 12,527 | ||
| R | 3,285 | 6,975 | 11,036 | ||
| R | 4,077 | 6,860 | 11,205 | ||
| R | 1,736 | 7,888 | 9,668 | ||
| R | 983 | 7,767 | 9,188 | ||
| R | 1,146 | 7,256 | 8,571 | ||
| R | 1,867 | 4,639 | 6,663 | ||
| O | 1,161 | 2,166 | 6,728 | ||
| R | 1,474 | 4,173 | 6,051 | ||
| R | 1,217 | 4,671 | 6,281 | ||
| R | 2,065 | 4,173 | 6,527 | ||
| R | 3,156 | 3,634 | 7,024 | ||
| R | 1,730 | 2,494 | 4,590 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
25.4%
English
13.6%
Irish
12.7%
Polish
9.7%
American
4.4%
Scottish
3.7%
Italian
3.0%
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: 45.5 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
$58,863
Sanilac County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Sanilac County$58,863
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Sanilac 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
15.3%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.5%
Working age (18–64)13.3%
Seniors (65+)10.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.2%
speak English only
Other Indo-European2.9%
Spanish1.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
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 70.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
This rural county at the tip of Michigan's Thumb peninsula recorded an R+47.7 margin in 2024, among the largest in the state, driven by a predominantly white, non-college population spread across small farming communities and shoreline townships.
The Republican margin here reached seventy-four points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-eight points.
A population of 40,462, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $58,863 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Newaygo County and Susquehanna 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.
Sanilac County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26151/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Sanilac County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Sanilac County, Michigan voted Republican by 47.6 points (R+48), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 23,362 votes cast, 5,957 went Democratic and 17,080 went Republican.
What is Sanilac County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Sanilac 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 0 times, Republican 33 times, and other 1 times.
How many people live in Sanilac County, Michigan?
Sanilac County, Michigan has a population of 40,462 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sanilac County, Michigan?
Median household income in Sanilac County, Michigan is $58,863 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Sanilac County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Sanilac County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 0 went Democratic and 33 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.