Alpena, Michigan: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+33%. Republican peak: R+60 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+33MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 39,2772024 5-year
- Median household income
- $54,2262024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+28 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+60 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Alpena, 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 | 8,178 | 16,224 | 24,728 | ||
| R | 8,142 | 15,534 | 24,033 | ||
| R | 6,609 | 13,291 | 20,966 | ||
| R | 9,021 | 10,869 | 20,195 | ||
| D | 10,601 | 10,529 | 21,505 | ||
| R | 10,278 | 11,257 | 21,742 | ||
| R | 9,749 | 9,921 | 20,129 | ||
| D | 9,733 | 6,752 | 19,047 | ||
| D | 9,277 | 7,125 | 20,848 | ||
| R | 8,259 | 9,630 | 17,959 | ||
| R | 6,752 | 11,435 | 18,250 | ||
| R | 7,691 | 9,806 | 18,894 | ||
| R | 8,348 | 8,708 | 17,269 | ||
| R | 6,299 | 8,947 | 15,524 | ||
| R | 5,746 | 7,569 | 14,413 | ||
| D | 9,119 | 5,153 | 14,287 | ||
| R | 6,109 | 8,626 | 14,752 | ||
| R | 3,821 | 9,133 | 12,961 | ||
| R | 3,900 | 7,689 | 11,636 | ||
| R | 3,451 | 5,738 | 9,320 | ||
| R | 3,572 | 5,956 | 9,557 | ||
| R | 4,444 | 6,470 | 10,933 | ||
| R | 4,150 | 4,812 | 9,486 | ||
| D | 4,446 | 4,103 | 8,848 | ||
| R | 2,286 | 4,616 | 6,924 | ||
| R | 1,132 | 5,655 | 7,527 | ||
| R | 2,157 | 4,510 | 6,845 | ||
| R | 1,845 | 2,593 | 4,564 | ||
| O | 1,250 | 1,000 | 4,535 | ||
| R | 1,124 | 3,182 | 4,543 | ||
| R | 999 | 3,399 | 4,633 | ||
| R | 1,580 | 3,132 | 4,857 | ||
| R | 1,940 | 2,520 | 4,530 | ||
| R | 1,916 | 2,082 | 4,077 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
25.2%
Polish
16.4%
English
13.0%
Irish
11.0%
French
6.9%
American
4.5%
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: 51.0 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
$54,226
Alpena ranks near the middle of US counties.
Alpena$54,226
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.5%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.8%
Working age (18–64)15.9%
Seniors (65+)12.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.7%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.4%
Spanish0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 69.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Alpena's media market anchors Michigan's northeastern Lower Peninsula, a sparsely populated stretch where Republican presidential candidates have carried most counties by double digits in recent cycles.
The Democratic margin in Alpena peaked at twenty-eight points in 1964. By 2012 the market 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 market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $54,226 sits well below state and national norms, and 17% 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.
Alpena, Michigan — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/583/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Alpena, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Alpena, Michigan voted Republican by 32.5 points (R+33), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 24,728 votes cast, 8,178 went Democratic and 16,224 went Republican.
What is Alpena, Michigan's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Alpena, 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 Alpena, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Alpena, Michigan voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Alpena, Michigan?
Alpena, Michigan has a population of 39,277 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Alpena, Michigan?
Median household income in Alpena, Michigan is $54,226 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Alpena, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Alpena, 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.