Bay City, MI, Michigan: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+15%. Democratic peak: D+43 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+15MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 103,0082024 5-year
- Median household income
- $61,7632024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+43 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+40 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Bay City, MI, MIOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 25,767 | 34,792 | 61,338 | ||
| R | 26,151 | 33,125 | 60,255 | ||
| R | 21,642 | 28,328 | 53,274 | ||
| D | 27,877 | 24,911 | 53,586 | ||
| D | 32,589 | 23,795 | 57,428 | ||
| D | 31,049 | 25,448 | 57,059 | ||
| D | 28,251 | 22,150 | 51,636 | ||
| D | 27,835 | 16,038 | 49,603 | ||
| D | 26,492 | 16,383 | 54,355 | ||
| D | 28,225 | 20,710 | 49,152 | ||
| R | 22,597 | 26,198 | 49,030 | ||
| R | 24,517 | 25,331 | 54,592 | ||
| D | 25,958 | 23,174 | 49,689 | ||
| R | 21,712 | 23,094 | 46,118 | ||
| D | 21,410 | 18,779 | 42,567 | ||
| D | 29,754 | 11,896 | 41,706 | ||
| D | 22,998 | 20,909 | 44,011 | ||
| R | 15,301 | 23,519 | 38,948 | ||
| R | 14,113 | 20,087 | 34,396 | ||
| D | 14,349 | 13,321 | 27,997 | ||
| D | 15,602 | 15,459 | 31,204 | ||
| D | 14,902 | 14,618 | 29,587 | ||
| D | 13,789 | 8,729 | 24,885 | ||
| D | 14,708 | 9,816 | 25,092 | ||
| R | 9,395 | 12,467 | 21,917 | ||
| R | 5,881 | 14,861 | 22,951 | ||
| R | 7,011 | 13,933 | 21,460 | ||
| R | 5,996 | 6,708 | 13,130 | ||
| O | 2,990 | 2,625 | 11,205 | ||
| R | 4,223 | 6,760 | 11,611 | ||
| R | 3,142 | 7,609 | 11,148 | ||
| R | 5,081 | 6,462 | 11,836 | ||
| D | 6,296 | 6,037 | 12,553 | ||
| D | 5,714 | 4,587 | 10,678 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
27.7%
Polish
15.6%
Irish
9.7%
English
8.9%
French
8.1%
American
3.7%
Italian
2.1%
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.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 43.9 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.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$61,763
Bay City, MI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Bay City, MI$61,763
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.3%
Working age (18–64)12.6%
Seniors (65+)12.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.7%
speak English only
Spanish1.1%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Bay City anchors a mid-Michigan metro where decades of manufacturing decline reshaped the electorate; the 2024 presidential margin of R+32.3 reflects a broader working-class realignment that has accelerated across the Saginaw Bay region since 2016.
The Democratic margin in Bay City, MI peaked at forty-three points in 1964. By 2016 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $61,763 sits well below state and national norms, and 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Bay City, MI, Michigan — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/13020/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Bay City, MI, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Bay City, MI, Michigan voted Republican by 14.7 points (R+15), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 61,338 votes cast, 25,767 went Democratic and 34,792 went Republican.
What is Bay City, MI, Michigan's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Bay City, MI, Michigan as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 18 times, Republican 15 times, and other 1 times.
When did Bay City, MI, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Bay City, MI, Michigan voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Bay City, MI, Michigan?
Bay City, MI, Michigan has a population of 103,008 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Bay City, MI, Michigan?
Median household income in Bay City, MI, Michigan is $61,763 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Bay City, MI, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Bay City, MI, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 15 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.