Coldwater, MI, Michigan: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+42%. Republican peak: R+50 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 45,3002024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,7242024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 87.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+21 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Coldwater, 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 | 5,911 | 14,848 | 21,089 | ||
| R | 6,159 | 14,064 | 20,536 | ||
| R | 5,061 | 11,786 | 17,663 | ||
| R | 6,913 | 10,035 | 17,147 | ||
| R | 8,413 | 9,534 | 18,285 | ||
| R | 7,004 | 10,784 | 17,967 | ||
| R | 6,691 | 8,743 | 15,783 | ||
| D | 6,567 | 6,321 | 14,805 | ||
| R | 5,850 | 5,976 | 16,593 | ||
| R | 5,231 | 9,225 | 14,531 | ||
| R | 3,860 | 11,004 | 14,945 | ||
| R | 4,635 | 10,224 | 16,230 | ||
| R | 6,301 | 8,251 | 14,802 | ||
| R | 4,887 | 8,388 | 13,526 | ||
| R | 4,518 | 7,071 | 12,654 | ||
| D | 7,858 | 5,110 | 13,034 | ||
| R | 4,759 | 8,752 | 13,587 | ||
| R | 3,827 | 8,856 | 12,744 | ||
| R | 3,564 | 9,215 | 12,884 | ||
| R | 3,405 | 6,323 | 10,027 | ||
| R | 3,406 | 7,155 | 10,609 | ||
| R | 4,318 | 7,400 | 11,764 | ||
| R | 5,425 | 5,528 | 11,375 | ||
| D | 5,685 | 4,663 | 10,640 | ||
| R | 2,266 | 6,818 | 9,150 | ||
| R | 2,253 | 6,016 | 9,302 | ||
| R | 2,181 | 5,704 | 8,181 | ||
| R | 3,062 | 3,100 | 6,356 | ||
| D | 2,185 | 1,865 | 6,193 | ||
| R | 2,402 | 3,715 | 6,463 | ||
| R | 1,598 | 4,385 | 6,289 | ||
| R | 3,419 | 4,293 | 7,844 | ||
| D | 3,976 | 3,596 | 7,720 | ||
| R | 2,161 | 3,271 | 6,584 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
22.1%
English
12.1%
Irish
10.7%
American
5.6%
Polish
5.1%
Italian
2.0%
French
1.6%
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: 40.6 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.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$63,724
Coldwater, MI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Coldwater, MI$63,724
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.4%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1825.8%
Working age (18–64)13.6%
Seniors (65+)12.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
88.3%
speak English only
Other Indo-European4.6%
Spanish4.0%
Other languages2.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 66.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Coldwater anchors a rural southwest Michigan county where decades of industrial employment in plastics and auto-supply firms have shaped a working-class electorate that leans heavily toward Republican candidates in federal and statewide races.
The Democratic margin in Coldwater, MI peaked at twenty-one points in 1964. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-two points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $63,724 sits well below state and national norms, and 16% 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.
Coldwater, MI, Michigan — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/17740/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Coldwater, MI, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Coldwater, MI, Michigan voted Republican by 42.4 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 21,089 votes cast, 5,911 went Democratic and 14,848 went Republican.
What is Coldwater, MI, Michigan's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Coldwater, 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 5 times, Republican 29 times, and other 0 times.
When did Coldwater, MI, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Coldwater, MI, Michigan voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Coldwater, MI, Michigan?
Coldwater, MI, Michigan has a population of 45,300 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Coldwater, MI, Michigan?
Median household income in Coldwater, MI, Michigan is $63,724 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Coldwater, MI, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Coldwater, MI, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 29 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.