Brainerd, MN, Minnesota: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+32%. Republican peak: R+63 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+32MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 98,6782024 5-year
- Median household income
- $71,4222024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+26 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+63 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Brainerd, MN, MNOne 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 | 20,473 | 40,182 | 61,729 | ||
| R | 20,068 | 37,296 | 58,462 | ||
| R | 15,931 | 32,269 | 51,841 | ||
| R | 21,618 | 28,372 | 51,061 | ||
| R | 23,135 | 27,227 | 51,472 | ||
| R | 20,840 | 27,981 | 49,455 | ||
| R | 16,789 | 22,169 | 41,721 | ||
| D | 16,593 | 14,886 | 36,992 | ||
| D | 13,797 | 13,388 | 36,736 | ||
| R | 14,801 | 16,912 | 32,030 | ||
| R | 13,492 | 17,981 | 31,702 | ||
| R | 14,040 | 16,963 | 33,162 | ||
| D | 16,077 | 12,515 | 29,798 | ||
| R | 10,675 | 13,680 | 25,054 | ||
| D | 10,980 | 10,575 | 22,745 | ||
| D | 13,832 | 8,241 | 22,103 | ||
| R | 10,413 | 12,126 | 22,605 | ||
| R | 8,304 | 10,664 | 19,008 | ||
| R | 8,701 | 11,593 | 20,442 | ||
| D | 10,706 | 7,881 | 19,123 | ||
| D | 8,881 | 7,635 | 16,614 | ||
| D | 11,268 | 9,613 | 21,083 | ||
| D | 11,001 | 6,245 | 18,007 | ||
| D | 8,562 | 6,293 | 15,621 | ||
| R | 4,598 | 10,217 | 15,125 | ||
| R | 687 | 7,030 | 13,622 | ||
| R | 1,787 | 8,504 | 12,079 | ||
| D | 2,828 | 2,697 | 6,431 | ||
| O | 1,274 | 1,122 | 5,394 | ||
| R | 1,122 | 2,690 | 4,538 | ||
| R | 555 | 3,328 | 4,367 | ||
| R | 1,322 | 2,877 | 4,330 | ||
| R | 1,337 | 2,052 | 3,497 | ||
| D | 1,227 | 752 | 2,508 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
32.5%
Irish
10.5%
English
7.9%
Polish
4.6%
American
3.9%
French
3.8%
Italian
2.2%
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: 47.0 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
$71,422
Brainerd, MN ranks near the middle of US counties.
Brainerd, MN$71,422
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.3%
Working age (18–64)9.8%
Seniors (65+)10.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.7%
speak English only
Other Indo-European0.7%
Spanish0.6%
Other languages0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 62.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Brainerd lakes region, anchored by a paper-mill and tourism economy, has swung sharply toward Republican presidential candidates since 2008, making Crow Wing County a reliable bellwether for outstate Minnesota's political drift.
The Democratic margin in Brainerd, MN peaked at twenty-six points in 1936. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-two points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $71,422 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% 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.
Brainerd, MN, Minnesota — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/14660/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Brainerd, MN, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Brainerd, MN, Minnesota voted Republican by 31.9 points (R+32), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 61,729 votes cast, 20,473 went Democratic and 40,182 went Republican.
What is Brainerd, MN, Minnesota's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Brainerd, MN, Minnesota as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 12 times, Republican 21 times, and other 1 times.
When did Brainerd, MN, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Brainerd, MN, Minnesota voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Brainerd, MN, Minnesota?
Brainerd, MN, Minnesota has a population of 98,678 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Brainerd, MN, Minnesota?
Median household income in Brainerd, MN, Minnesota is $71,422 — below the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Brainerd, MN, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Brainerd, MN, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.