Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+23%. Republican peak: R+57 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+23MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 625,1282024 5-year
- Median household income
- $67,5672024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+18 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Traverse City-Cadillac, 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 | 147,325 | 236,801 | 390,547 | ||
| R | 141,332 | 223,254 | 370,305 | ||
| R | 108,796 | 189,072 | 316,957 | ||
| R | 133,397 | 168,414 | 306,503 | ||
| R | 154,246 | 160,189 | 320,133 | ||
| R | 131,375 | 177,890 | 312,761 | ||
| R | 113,505 | 148,571 | 271,125 | ||
| D | 109,365 | 101,491 | 242,511 | ||
| D | 95,940 | 94,520 | 254,157 | ||
| R | 85,364 | 128,222 | 215,100 | ||
| R | 68,892 | 143,133 | 213,209 | ||
| R | 78,284 | 119,230 | 217,343 | ||
| R | 81,316 | 111,217 | 195,216 | ||
| R | 58,394 | 102,837 | 164,882 | ||
| R | 50,896 | 78,578 | 140,502 | ||
| D | 79,600 | 55,545 | 135,340 | ||
| R | 52,394 | 87,376 | 140,013 | ||
| R | 39,834 | 90,599 | 130,709 | ||
| R | 36,789 | 90,626 | 128,260 | ||
| R | 36,446 | 63,757 | 103,040 | ||
| R | 38,724 | 65,023 | 104,508 | ||
| R | 48,953 | 73,256 | 122,745 | ||
| D | 56,674 | 53,087 | 114,857 | ||
| D | 53,707 | 50,133 | 107,145 | ||
| R | 21,197 | 62,425 | 84,186 | ||
| R | 11,526 | 56,645 | 78,814 | ||
| R | 17,624 | 53,923 | 74,779 | ||
| R | 24,386 | 32,647 | 60,665 | ||
| O | 13,760 | 16,884 | 58,075 | ||
| R | 16,631 | 41,199 | 61,510 | ||
| R | 11,891 | 46,899 | 61,590 | ||
| R | 18,889 | 41,257 | 62,089 | ||
| R | 23,211 | 34,133 | 59,147 | ||
| R | 19,832 | 22,079 | 46,031 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.0%
English
15.1%
Irish
12.2%
Polish
8.0%
American
4.7%
French
4.3%
Italian
2.1%
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: 47.3 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
$67,567
Traverse City-Cadillac ranks near the middle of US counties.
Traverse City-Cadillac$67,567
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.0%
Working age (18–64)12.0%
Seniors (65+)10.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.5%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.7%
Spanish1.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 70.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
This northwest Michigan media market spans a cultural fault line between affluent lakeside communities and rural industrial towns, producing competitive margins in statewide races that neither party can take for granted.
The Democratic margin in Traverse City-Cadillac peaked at eighteen points in 1964. By 2000 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-three points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $67,567 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.
Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/540/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan voted Republican by 22.9 points (R+23), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 390,547 votes cast, 147,325 went Democratic and 236,801 went Republican.
What is Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 5 times, Republican 28 times, and other 1 times.
When did Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan?
Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan has a population of 625,128 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan?
Median household income in Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan is $67,567 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Traverse City-Cadillac, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.