Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+24%. Republican peak: R+70 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+24MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 36,2952024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,2172024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 67.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+23 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+70 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Sault Ste. Marie, 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 | 6,796 | 11,249 | 18,387 | ||
| R | 6,648 | 10,681 | 17,642 | ||
| R | 5,379 | 9,122 | 15,552 | ||
| R | 7,100 | 8,278 | 15,660 | ||
| R | 8,184 | 8,267 | 16,708 | ||
| R | 7,203 | 9,122 | 16,488 | ||
| R | 6,370 | 7,526 | 14,354 | ||
| D | 6,532 | 5,137 | 13,259 | ||
| R | 5,434 | 5,462 | 13,647 | ||
| R | 5,222 | 6,786 | 12,068 | ||
| R | 4,575 | 8,135 | 12,757 | ||
| R | 5,268 | 7,059 | 13,494 | ||
| R | 6,022 | 7,025 | 13,175 | ||
| R | 4,744 | 7,028 | 11,906 | ||
| R | 4,132 | 5,359 | 10,297 | ||
| D | 6,537 | 4,098 | 10,658 | ||
| R | 5,239 | 6,490 | 11,751 | ||
| R | 4,106 | 6,957 | 11,077 | ||
| R | 4,257 | 7,075 | 11,389 | ||
| R | 3,860 | 4,977 | 9,331 | ||
| R | 4,344 | 5,335 | 9,725 | ||
| R | 5,473 | 5,851 | 11,353 | ||
| D | 5,259 | 4,901 | 10,398 | ||
| R | 4,221 | 5,252 | 9,665 | ||
| R | 2,355 | 5,326 | 7,755 | ||
| R | 516 | 5,443 | 7,029 | ||
| R | 1,266 | 4,732 | 6,364 | ||
| R | 1,768 | 2,365 | 4,328 | ||
| O | 879 | 889 | 3,814 | ||
| R | 1,175 | 2,418 | 3,767 | ||
| R | 662 | 2,920 | 3,754 | ||
| R | 893 | 2,477 | 3,460 | ||
| R | 1,001 | 2,105 | 3,213 | ||
| R | 1,083 | 1,247 | 2,383 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
14.8%
German
13.6%
Irish
10.4%
French
5.2%
Polish
5.1%
Italian
4.2%
American
4.1%
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: 41.6 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
$62,217
Sault Ste. Marie, MI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI$62,217
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.0%
Working age (18–64)12.3%
Seniors (65+)12.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.3%
speak English only
Spanish1.6%
Other Indo-European1.5%
Other languages0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 72.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Sault Ste. Marie anchors Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula, where the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians is among the largest employers and exerts measurable influence on county-level electoral outcomes and policy priorities.
The Democratic margin in Sault Ste. Marie, MI peaked at twenty-three points in 1964. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-four points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $62,217 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% 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.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/42300/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan voted Republican by 24.2 points (R+24), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 18,387 votes cast, 6,796 went Democratic and 11,249 went Republican.
What is Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Sault Ste. Marie, 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 3 times, Republican 30 times, and other 1 times.
When did Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan?
Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan has a population of 36,295 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan?
Median household income in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan is $62,217 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 30 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.