Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+34%. Republican peak: R+66 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+34MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 60,4752024 5-year
- Median household income
- $72,2552024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+15 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+66 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Brown County, MN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Otter Tail CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Otter Tail County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | +8.7% |
| 1896 | +11.3% |
| 1900 | −2.6% |
| 1904 | −59.9% |
| 1908 | −24.1% |
| 1912 | +15.0% |
| 1916 | −18.5% |
| 1920 | −66.2% |
| 1924 | −51.3% |
| 1928 | −39.0% |
| 1932 | +8.2% |
| 1936 | −1.4% |
| 1940 | −27.9% |
| 1944 | −35.7% |
| 1948 | −25.2% |
| 1952 | −50.4% |
| 1956 | −32.0% |
| 1960 | −26.1% |
| 1964 | −2.7% |
| 1968 | −24.6% |
| 1972 | −25.9% |
| 1976 | −0.9% |
| 1980 | −22.9% |
| 1984 | −23.3% |
| 1988 | −14.8% |
| 1992 | −7.1% |
| 1996 | −5.0% |
| 2000 | −25.0% |
| 2004 | −23.9% |
| 2008 | −12.9% |
| 2012 | −21.1% |
| 2016 | −35.7% |
| 2020 | −32.5% |
| 2024 | −34.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 11,752 | 24,276 | 36,736 | ||
| R | 11,958 | 23,800 | 36,399 | ||
| R | 9,340 | 20,939 | 32,500 | ||
| R | 12,165 | 18,860 | 31,670 | ||
| R | 13,856 | 18,077 | 32,687 | ||
| R | 12,038 | 19,734 | 32,178 | ||
| R | 9,844 | 16,963 | 28,511 | ||
| R | 10,519 | 11,808 | 25,850 | ||
| R | 9,176 | 11,074 | 26,670 | ||
| R | 10,373 | 14,015 | 24,604 | ||
| R | 9,714 | 15,664 | 25,551 | ||
| R | 9,108 | 15,091 | 26,138 | ||
| R | 11,881 | 12,113 | 24,510 | ||
| R | 7,881 | 13,519 | 21,731 | ||
| R | 7,400 | 12,483 | 20,701 | ||
| R | 9,997 | 10,542 | 20,565 | ||
| R | 8,054 | 13,747 | 21,843 | ||
| R | 6,571 | 12,764 | 19,375 | ||
| R | 5,388 | 16,447 | 21,921 | ||
| R | 6,546 | 11,131 | 18,172 | ||
| R | 5,823 | 12,351 | 18,284 | ||
| R | 7,705 | 13,737 | 21,629 | ||
| R | 8,642 | 8,899 | 18,110 | ||
| D | 8,805 | 7,416 | 16,964 | ||
| R | 4,990 | 11,624 | 17,025 | ||
| R | 568 | 7,557 | 13,629 | ||
| R | 1,741 | 11,084 | 14,119 | ||
| R | 2,858 | 4,328 | 7,966 | ||
| O | 1,739 | 755 | 6,546 | ||
| R | 2,320 | 3,964 | 6,826 | ||
| R | 869 | 4,642 | 6,299 | ||
| R | 3,257 | 3,446 | 7,303 | ||
| D | 4,482 | 3,544 | 8,294 | ||
| D | 2,140 | 1,642 | 5,722 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
37.0%
Irish
7.8%
English
5.3%
Polish
3.6%
American
3.3%
French
1.8%
Italian
1.1%
African American
0.9%
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: 46.2 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
$72,255
Otter Tail County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Otter Tail County$72,255
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Otter Tail 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
8.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 188.6%
Working age (18–64)8.7%
Seniors (65+)9.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.4%
speak English only
Spanish2.8%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Other languages0.6%
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 43.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Otter Tail's 1,000-plus lakes draw seasonal tourism, but its year-round population skews rural and older — a demographic profile that has tracked closely with the broader shift toward lopsided Republican margins across Minnesota's lake belt.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-six points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-four points.
A population of 60,475, a 91% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $72,255 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Brown County and Bottineau 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.
Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/27111/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Minnesota
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Otter Tail County, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Otter Tail County, Minnesota voted Republican by 34.1 points (R+34), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 36,736 votes cast, 11,752 went Democratic and 24,276 went Republican.
What is Otter Tail County, Minnesota's political typology?
Akashic places Otter Tail County, Minnesota 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 Otter Tail County, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Otter Tail County, Minnesota voted Democratic was 1932.
How many people live in Otter Tail County, Minnesota?
Otter Tail County, Minnesota has a population of 60,475 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Otter Tail County, Minnesota?
Median household income in Otter Tail County, Minnesota is $72,255 — below the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Otter Tail County, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Otter Tail County, Minnesota 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.