Alpena County, Michigan: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+29%. Republican peak: R+60 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+29MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 28,8802024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,9502024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+31 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+60 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Clare County, MI · similarity 0.99
2024 presidential election
Alpena County
TrumpR+29
How it voted
Share of the 2024 vote
| Donald Trump ✓Republican | 63.6% | 10,967 |
|---|---|---|
| Kamala HarrisDemocratic | 35.0% | 6,038 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 1.4% | 236 |
Harris +50Trump +50
34 precincts · 17,241 votes. Hover any precinct for its result.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | +0.3% |
| 1896 | −3.2% |
| 1900 | −22.0% |
| 1904 | −44.2% |
| 1908 | −40.7% |
| 1912 | +11.2% |
| 1916 | −18.0% |
| 1920 | −28.8% |
| 1924 | −60.3% |
| 1928 | −27.1% |
| 1932 | +4.9% |
| 1936 | −4.3% |
| 1940 | −14.5% |
| 1944 | −21.8% |
| 1948 | −22.0% |
| 1952 | −33.1% |
| 1956 | −40.4% |
| 1960 | −12.9% |
| 1964 | +31.0% |
| 1968 | −8.2% |
| 1972 | −11.9% |
| 1976 | −0.5% |
| 1980 | −7.7% |
| 1984 | −23.0% |
| 1988 | −2.5% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +19.2% |
| 2000 | +2.0% |
| 2004 | −1.7% |
| 2008 | +3.8% |
| 2012 | −5.3% |
| 2016 | −28.5% |
| 2020 | −27.6% |
| 2024 | −28.6% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 6,038 | 10,967 | 17,241 | ||
| R | 6,000 | 10,686 | 16,969 | ||
| R | 4,877 | 9,090 | 14,768 | ||
| R | 6,549 | 7,298 | 14,091 | ||
| D | 7,705 | 7,125 | 15,085 | ||
| R | 7,407 | 7,665 | 15,211 | ||
| D | 7,053 | 6,769 | 14,132 | ||
| D | 7,114 | 4,525 | 13,492 | ||
| D | 6,894 | 4,878 | 15,069 | ||
| R | 6,341 | 6,664 | 13,054 | ||
| R | 5,136 | 8,212 | 13,397 | ||
| R | 5,834 | 6,901 | 13,832 | ||
| R | 6,310 | 6,380 | 12,866 | ||
| R | 5,104 | 6,513 | 11,831 | ||
| R | 4,788 | 5,717 | 11,261 | ||
| D | 7,508 | 3,954 | 11,472 | ||
| R | 5,071 | 6,573 | 11,653 | ||
| R | 3,033 | 7,142 | 10,177 | ||
| R | 3,134 | 6,248 | 9,421 | ||
| R | 2,743 | 4,313 | 7,152 | ||
| R | 2,856 | 4,453 | 7,327 | ||
| R | 3,597 | 4,822 | 8,432 | ||
| R | 3,231 | 3,536 | 7,076 | ||
| D | 3,562 | 3,222 | 7,006 | ||
| R | 1,984 | 3,467 | 5,466 | ||
| R | 948 | 4,628 | 6,107 | ||
| R | 1,893 | 3,467 | 5,470 | ||
| R | 1,392 | 2,020 | 3,487 | ||
| O | 1,105 | 709 | 3,547 | ||
| R | 949 | 2,358 | 3,464 | ||
| R | 907 | 2,498 | 3,601 | ||
| R | 1,435 | 2,283 | 3,847 | ||
| R | 1,665 | 1,777 | 3,482 | ||
| D | 1,536 | 1,526 | 3,107 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.6%
Polish
18.8%
English
11.6%
Irish
9.7%
French
7.6%
American
4.7%
Scottish
3.0%
African American
0.8%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
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.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 47.8 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.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$53,950
Alpena County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Alpena County$53,950
Michigan$72,875
United States$80,734
Alpena County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
18.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1823.5%
Working age (18–64)17.1%
Seniors (65+)14.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.5%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.7%
Spanish0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 64.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Alpena's economy has long centered on cement manufacturing and the Thunder Bay watershed, drawing a working-class rural electorate that shifted decisively rightward over the past decade and delivered a 28-point Republican margin in 2024.
The Republican margin here reached sixty points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-nine points.
A population of 28,880, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $53,950 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Clare County and Ogemaw County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Alpena County, Michigan. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/26007/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Alpena County, Michigan vote in 2024?
In 2024, Alpena County, Michigan voted Republican by 28.6 points (R+29), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 17,241 votes cast, 6,038 went Democratic and 10,967 went Republican.
What is Alpena County, Michigan's political typology?
Akashic places Alpena County, Michigan in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 7 times, Republican 26 times, and other 1 times.
When did Alpena County, Michigan last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Alpena County, Michigan voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Alpena County, Michigan?
Alpena County, Michigan has a population of 28,880 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Alpena County, Michigan?
Median household income in Alpena County, Michigan is $53,950 — below the national median of $80,734. The Michigan state median is $72,875.
What is the political history of Alpena County, Michigan?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Alpena County, Michigan from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.