Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+9%. Republican peak: R+59 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+9MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 2,115,4932024 5-year
- Median household income
- $76,8642024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 6.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 8.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+15 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, 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 | 527,326 | 628,679 | 1,176,716 | ||
| R | 512,717 | 593,697 | 1,127,969 | ||
| R | 391,685 | 509,190 | 968,718 | ||
| R | 420,750 | 489,534 | 924,530 | ||
| D | 486,075 | 470,533 | 973,332 | ||
| R | 388,182 | 536,083 | 933,378 | ||
| R | 324,733 | 456,155 | 801,550 | ||
| R | 303,821 | 355,798 | 723,586 | ||
| R | 281,119 | 337,309 | 784,582 | ||
| R | 249,640 | 414,088 | 668,118 | ||
| R | 210,640 | 454,865 | 669,349 | ||
| R | 234,722 | 388,031 | 686,749 | ||
| R | 224,321 | 393,229 | 627,206 | ||
| R | 209,865 | 362,829 | 586,157 | ||
| R | 194,480 | 292,320 | 536,331 | ||
| D | 294,584 | 215,612 | 511,294 | ||
| R | 194,125 | 328,013 | 524,056 | ||
| R | 159,089 | 322,234 | 483,219 | ||
| R | 151,975 | 290,298 | 446,823 | ||
| R | 134,020 | 189,667 | 331,974 | ||
| R | 136,619 | 206,329 | 346,324 | ||
| R | 151,074 | 205,195 | 358,552 | ||
| D | 156,030 | 143,710 | 314,027 | ||
| R | 145,330 | 148,755 | 303,672 | ||
| R | 55,470 | 204,021 | 261,196 | ||
| R | 38,222 | 184,046 | 247,662 | ||
| R | 55,679 | 161,875 | 227,154 | ||
| R | 69,631 | 70,418 | 146,756 | ||
| O | 36,561 | 30,575 | 129,116 | ||
| R | 42,884 | 75,292 | 126,217 | ||
| R | 29,813 | 85,209 | 122,252 | ||
| R | 55,309 | 76,853 | 136,359 | ||
| R | 62,886 | 73,382 | 139,541 | ||
| R | 46,720 | 58,578 | 119,269 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
18.5%
English
11.0%
Irish
9.4%
Polish
5.0%
American
4.1%
Italian
2.6%
French
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: 37.9 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
$76,864
Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk ranks near the middle of US counties.
Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk$76,864
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.5%
Working age (18–64)10.4%
Seniors (65+)9.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.0%
speak English only
Spanish5.1%
Other Indo-European1.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.3%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 62.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Anchored by Grand Rapids' mid-size urban core and stretched across a mix of mid-density suburbs and rural townships, this market has delivered some of Michigan's tightest federal margins over the past three election cycles.
The Democratic margin in Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk peaked at fifteen points in 1964. By 2012 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was nine points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $76,864 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.
Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/563/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan voted Republican by 8.6 points (R+9), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,176,716 votes cast, 527,326 went Democratic and 628,679 went Republican.
What is Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 3 times, Republican 30 times, and other 1 times.
When did Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan?
Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan has a population of 2,115,493 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan?
Median household income in Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan is $76,864 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Grand Rapids-Kalmzoo-B.Crk, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 30 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.