Ottawa County, Ohio: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+25%. Democratic peak: D+42 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+25MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 39,9942024 5-year
- Median household income
- $76,1012024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+42 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+26 in 1956MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Shiawassee County, MI · similarity 0.99
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 | +29.3% |
| 1896 | +22.0% |
| 1900 | +19.7% |
| 1904 | +5.2% |
| 1908 | +20.2% |
| 1912 | +42.0% |
| 1916 | +29.9% |
| 1920 | −20.1% |
| 1924 | −19.6% |
| 1928 | −25.3% |
| 1932 | +30.5% |
| 1936 | +20.9% |
| 1940 | −10.6% |
| 1944 | −16.7% |
| 1948 | +4.8% |
| 1952 | −20.0% |
| 1956 | −26.0% |
| 1960 | −16.7% |
| 1964 | +26.1% |
| 1968 | −5.5% |
| 1972 | −19.6% |
| 1976 | +7.7% |
| 1980 | −11.2% |
| 1984 | −21.4% |
| 1988 | −7.5% |
| 1992 | +6.8% |
| 1996 | +12.3% |
| 2000 | −2.2% |
| 2004 | −4.1% |
| 2008 | +6.2% |
| 2012 | +4.2% |
| 2016 | −19.3% |
| 2020 | −23.4% |
| 2024 | −25.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 8,866 | 14,872 | 24,042 | ||
| R | 9,008 | 14,628 | 24,007 | ||
| R | 8,285 | 12,653 | 22,678 | ||
| D | 11,503 | 10,538 | 22,736 | ||
| D | 12,064 | 10,624 | 23,090 | ||
| R | 11,118 | 12,073 | 23,259 | ||
| R | 9,485 | 9,917 | 19,968 | ||
| D | 9,321 | 6,991 | 18,888 | ||
| D | 8,128 | 6,782 | 19,795 | ||
| R | 8,038 | 9,352 | 17,517 | ||
| R | 7,053 | 10,920 | 18,075 | ||
| R | 6,753 | 8,641 | 16,883 | ||
| D | 9,646 | 8,241 | 18,299 | ||
| R | 6,465 | 9,772 | 16,889 | ||
| R | 6,319 | 7,149 | 15,115 | ||
| D | 9,618 | 5,639 | 15,257 | ||
| R | 6,612 | 9,260 | 15,872 | ||
| R | 5,176 | 8,806 | 13,982 | ||
| R | 5,808 | 8,708 | 14,516 | ||
| D | 6,157 | 5,591 | 11,783 | ||
| R | 4,941 | 6,922 | 11,863 | ||
| R | 5,556 | 6,872 | 12,428 | ||
| D | 6,335 | 4,006 | 11,139 | ||
| D | 6,817 | 3,600 | 10,532 | ||
| R | 3,435 | 5,772 | 9,229 | ||
| R | 2,571 | 4,137 | 7,991 | ||
| R | 2,867 | 4,336 | 7,299 | ||
| D | 3,347 | 1,793 | 5,194 | ||
| D | 2,728 | 791 | 4,611 | ||
| D | 3,329 | 2,202 | 5,577 | ||
| D | 2,706 | 2,437 | 5,194 | ||
| D | 3,185 | 2,131 | 5,345 | ||
| D | 3,260 | 2,079 | 5,373 | ||
| D | 2,943 | 1,588 | 4,620 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
38.5%
Irish
13.0%
English
11.4%
American
4.9%
Polish
4.8%
Italian
4.1%
French
3.1%
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: 50.6 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
$76,101
Ottawa County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Ottawa County$76,101
Ohio$71,389
United States$80,734
Ottawa County ranks in the top 25% 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
8.4%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.1%
Working age (18–64)8.6%
Seniors (65+)6.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.5%
Other Indo-European0.7%
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 47.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Ottawa County sits along Lake Erie's western basin, where seasonal tourism and commercial fishing shape local economic life. Despite its small size, it draws outsized attention as a bellwether that has tracked closely with statewide Republican margins over recent cycles.
The Republican margin here reached twenty-six points in 1956. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-five points.
A population of 39,994, a 92% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $76,101 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Shiawassee County and Juneau 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, Ohio. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/39123/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Ottawa County, Ohio vote in 2024?
In 2024, Ottawa County, Ohio voted Republican by 25.0 points (R+25), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 24,042 votes cast, 8,866 went Democratic and 14,872 went Republican.
What is Ottawa County, Ohio's political typology?
Akashic places Ottawa County, Ohio 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 16 times, Republican 18 times, and other 0 times.
When did Ottawa County, Ohio last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Ottawa County, Ohio voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Ottawa County, Ohio?
Ottawa County, Ohio has a population of 39,994 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ottawa County, Ohio?
Median household income in Ottawa County, Ohio is $76,101 — below the national median of $80,734. The Ohio state median is $71,389.
What is the political history of Ottawa County, Ohio?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Ottawa County, Ohio from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.