Sturgis, MI, Michigan: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+34%. Republican peak: R+53 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+34MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 60,9692024 5-year
- Median household income
- $66,4252024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 9.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+18 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+53 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Sturgis, 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 | 9,452 | 19,403 | 29,350 | ||
| R | 9,262 | 18,127 | 27,936 | ||
| R | 7,526 | 14,884 | 23,967 | ||
| R | 10,112 | 12,978 | 23,445 | ||
| R | 12,322 | 12,886 | 25,702 | ||
| R | 9,648 | 15,340 | 25,239 | ||
| R | 8,574 | 12,906 | 22,024 | ||
| R | 8,529 | 9,764 | 20,794 | ||
| R | 7,817 | 9,836 | 23,971 | ||
| R | 7,017 | 13,084 | 20,196 | ||
| R | 5,795 | 15,405 | 21,296 | ||
| R | 6,318 | 13,631 | 21,570 | ||
| R | 7,306 | 11,784 | 19,295 | ||
| R | 5,119 | 12,438 | 17,988 | ||
| R | 5,413 | 10,445 | 17,645 | ||
| D | 9,284 | 7,307 | 16,623 | ||
| R | 5,445 | 12,337 | 17,847 | ||
| R | 4,242 | 12,328 | 16,634 | ||
| R | 4,509 | 12,191 | 16,887 | ||
| R | 3,928 | 8,166 | 12,436 | ||
| R | 4,235 | 9,785 | 14,089 | ||
| R | 5,045 | 10,025 | 15,115 | ||
| R | 6,048 | 7,160 | 13,809 | ||
| D | 6,917 | 5,626 | 12,852 | ||
| R | 2,698 | 8,781 | 11,546 | ||
| R | 6,206 | 23,618 | 34,738 | ||
| R | 8,494 | 20,425 | 29,932 | ||
| D | 3,567 | 3,132 | 6,959 | ||
| O | 2,388 | 1,224 | 6,432 | ||
| R | 2,770 | 3,466 | 6,548 | ||
| R | 2,176 | 3,649 | 6,102 | ||
| D | 3,283 | 3,178 | 6,595 | ||
| D | 3,968 | 3,184 | 7,276 | ||
| R | 2,441 | 2,824 | 6,428 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.9%
English
11.8%
Irish
8.3%
American
4.4%
Polish
3.1%
Italian
2.6%
Scottish
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: 39.9 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
$66,425
Sturgis, MI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Sturgis, MI$66,425
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.4%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.4%
Working age (18–64)10.4%
Seniors (65+)10.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.5%
speak English only
Spanish7.0%
Other Indo-European5.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Sturgis anchors St. Joseph County, a historically blue-collar corner of southwest Michigan that has shifted toward Republican margins over the past two decades as durable-goods manufacturing employment declined and rural voters realigned.
The Democratic margin in Sturgis, MI peaked at eighteen points in 1912. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-four points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $66,425 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.
Sturgis, MI, Michigan — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/44780/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Sturgis, MI, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Sturgis, MI, Michigan voted Republican by 33.9 points (R+34), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 29,350 votes cast, 9,452 went Democratic and 19,403 went Republican.
What is Sturgis, MI, Michigan's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Sturgis, 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 28 times, and other 1 times.
When did Sturgis, MI, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Sturgis, MI, Michigan voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Sturgis, MI, Michigan?
Sturgis, MI, Michigan has a population of 60,969 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sturgis, MI, Michigan?
Median household income in Sturgis, MI, Michigan is $66,425 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Sturgis, MI, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Sturgis, MI, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.