Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+33%. Republican peak: R+66 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+33MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 35,3432024 5-year
- Median household income
- $71,3882024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+40 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+66 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Detroit Lakes, 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 | 6,435 | 12,961 | 19,739 | ||
| R | 6,589 | 12,438 | 19,401 | ||
| R | 5,208 | 10,880 | 17,222 | ||
| R | 6,829 | 9,204 | 16,382 | ||
| R | 7,687 | 8,851 | 16,965 | ||
| R | 6,756 | 9,795 | 16,801 | ||
| R | 5,253 | 8,152 | 14,333 | ||
| D | 5,911 | 5,461 | 13,374 | ||
| R | 4,958 | 5,430 | 13,702 | ||
| R | 5,787 | 6,738 | 12,651 | ||
| R | 5,456 | 7,553 | 13,101 | ||
| R | 5,221 | 6,848 | 13,134 | ||
| D | 6,597 | 5,611 | 12,566 | ||
| R | 4,695 | 6,033 | 10,884 | ||
| D | 4,875 | 4,728 | 10,196 | ||
| D | 6,453 | 3,751 | 10,220 | ||
| D | 5,257 | 5,090 | 10,389 | ||
| D | 4,619 | 4,608 | 9,251 | ||
| R | 4,539 | 5,815 | 10,414 | ||
| D | 5,885 | 3,495 | 9,727 | ||
| D | 4,889 | 3,803 | 8,750 | ||
| D | 6,432 | 4,292 | 10,816 | ||
| D | 6,473 | 2,683 | 9,466 | ||
| D | 5,547 | 2,299 | 8,210 | ||
| R | 3,253 | 4,273 | 7,703 | ||
| O | 429 | 2,936 | 6,452 | ||
| R | 901 | 4,811 | 6,349 | ||
| R | 1,453 | 1,761 | 3,491 | ||
| O | 732 | 509 | 3,037 | ||
| R | 728 | 2,058 | 3,196 | ||
| R | 310 | 1,872 | 2,355 | ||
| R | 771 | 1,790 | 2,770 | ||
| R | 985 | 1,479 | 2,515 | ||
| D | 853 | 266 | 1,539 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
32.3%
Irish
6.7%
English
5.4%
French
3.4%
American
3.1%
Polish
2.3%
Scottish
0.9%
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: 43.5 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
$71,388
Detroit Lakes, MN ranks near the middle of US counties.
Detroit Lakes, MN$71,388
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.1%
Working age (18–64)11.0%
Seniors (65+)11.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.0%
speak English only
Spanish1.0%
Other languages1.0%
Other Indo-European0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 47.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Detroit Lakes, MN sits in the Upper Midwest. For most of the post-war period it was a Democratic metro — its working-class profile gave it the same political habits as much of its region. That identity has shifted decisively in the last twenty years.
The Democratic margin in Detroit Lakes, MN peaked at forty points in 1936. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-three points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $71,388 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.
Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/19810/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota voted Republican by 33.1 points (R+33), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 19,739 votes cast, 6,435 went Democratic and 12,961 went Republican.
What is Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Detroit Lakes, 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 20 times, and other 2 times.
When did Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota?
Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota has a population of 35,343 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota?
Median household income in Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota is $71,388 — below the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Detroit Lakes, MN, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.