How did Detroit vote in the 2024 presidential election?

Detroit voted Democratic in 2024 with a margin of D+8.5. Kamala D Harris received 1,463,944 votes and Donald Trump received 1,228,532 out of 2,758,635 total votes cast, a 5.9-point shift toward Republicans from 2020.

What is Detroit's political history?

Detroit has 40 presidential elections on record, spanning 1868 to 2024. It has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992. The largest single-election swing was 54.6 points in 1896.

What are the demographics of Detroit?

Detroit has a population of 4,942,617 according to the 2020 Census. The racial composition is 64.8% non-Hispanic white, 5.3% Hispanic, 19.8% Black. About 36% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median household income is $78,465.

Which places are most similar to Detroit?

Based on demographic and electoral similarity analysis, the three most similar media markets to Detroit are Baltimore, Richmond-Petersburg, Philadelphia. Similarity is computed using a vector embedding of demographic, economic, and electoral characteristics.

Detroit

Latest: 2024↓ R+5.9 vs 2020

Leans Democratic — shifted 5.9pp toward Republicans in 2024 — 4.9M residents — 9 counties

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TV HOMES
1.8M
MARKET RANK
#11
COUNTIES
9
PRES MARGIN
D+8.5

Place Story

What defines Detroit

Methodology

Leans Democratic since 1992
- Likely D
- 9 straight D wins
Biggest swing: R+54.6 in 1896
- 1892 → 1896
Volatile behavior — treat historical margins with caution.
Ticket-splitting: Senate ran 21.7pp ahead of Governor
- Divergence 21.7pp in 2014
Persuadable voters present — downballot races can run independent of presidential.
Catholic edge: 20pp over Evangelicals
- 42% Catholic / 22% Evangelical
Correlates nationally with Democratic-leaning behavior.

Constituent Counties

Open in Cartographer

Similarity Explorer

Similar media markets

Nearest neighbors matched on the same place-page feature set used across the dossier system.

8 visible matches

Baltimore

Educated rural competitive

D+20.2

Similarity score90%

Richmond-Petersburg

Educated rural competitive

D+9.3

Similarity score87%

Philadelphia

Educated rural competitive

D+20.2

Similarity score87%

Charleston, SC

Educated rural competitive

R+5.3

Similarity score86%

Rochester, NY

Educated rural competitive

D+9.7

Similarity score86%

Madison

Educated rural competitive

D+28.2

Similarity score86%

Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville)

Educated rural competitive

D+14.7

Similarity score84%

Seattle-Tacoma

Educated rural democratic

D+28.6

Similarity score84%

Constituent Geography

Counties in Detroit

2024 presidential results across the counties that make up this geography.

Sort:

County	Pop.	Margin	Dem	Rep	Total	Share
Wayne	1.8M	D+29.0	537,032	288,860	856,690	31.1%
Oakland	1.3M	D+10.6	419,519	337,791	772,145	28.0%
Macomb	880K	R+13.7	214,977	284,660	509,152	18.5%
Washtenaw	370K	D+44.4	157,152	58,844	221,542	8.0%
Livingston	196K	R+23.9	49,503	81,217	132,448	4.8%
St. Clair	160K	R+34.6	30,844	64,277	96,524	3.5%
Monroe	156K	R+27.1	32,622	57,405	91,356	3.3%
Lapeer	89K	R+39.8	16,338	38,398	55,439	2.0%
Sanilac	40K	R+47.7	5,957	17,080	23,339	0.8%

9 countiesTotal votes: 2,758,635

Historian Query

Ask the Historian

Explore Detroit's political evolution with the Historian

“How has the Detroit media market voted in presidential elections?”

Race & Ancestry

Who Lives Here

A race-first Census view with ancestry expansion where source coverage is strong enough to support detail.

DetroitCensus ACS 2024Ancestry detail available

Census race profile

Major Census race and ethnicity groups shown as a share of total population.

Expand rows for ancestry detail

White (Non-Hispanic) 64.8%Black 19.8%Hispanic 5.3%Asian 5.2%Multiracial 4.6%

Group	Detroit	National
▶White (Non-Hispanic)(13)	64.8%	57.4%
▶Black / African American(12)	19.8%	12.2%
▶Hispanic / Latino(18)	5.3%	19.3%
▶Asian(6)	5.2%	6.0%
Multiracial / Other	4.6%	4.0%
▶Middle Eastern / North African(11)	4.1%	0.9%
▶Native American / Alaska Native(2)	0.2%	0.9%

Method notes

Census treats race and Hispanic/Latino origin as separate questions. Race categories other than Hispanic reflect total populations (small Hispanic overlap in Black, Asian, AIAN, NHPI). “Multiracial / Other” is derived as a non-overlapping remainder.

Click rows to expand ancestry detail. Ancestry from ACS B04006, B03001, B02020, B02016. Totals may differ from race — individuals can report multiple ancestries.

Black / African American (estimated remainder) is derived as Black population share minus reported Sub-Saharan African and West Indian ancestry. It is shown as an estimated ancestry detail, not a standalone Census ancestry category.

MENA estimated from ancestry reporting — Census does not have a separate MENA race category. Not shown in bar (overlaps with other race groups).

Religious Adherents

Population that are religious adherents:

43.0%(2.1M people)

U.S. Religion Census 2020

Browse all religions

Catholic-Evangelical edge: +15.9pp (vs national 4.5pp). A strongly Catholic-leaning religious profile, which nationally correlates with Democratic-leaning urban and suburban communities.

Tradition	% Pop	% Adherents	US Pop	US Adherents
Catholic	18.0%	42.0%	—	—
Evangelical Protestant	9.3%	21.6%	—	—
Other	6.6%	15.3%	—	—
Black Protestant	4.7%	10.9%	—	—
Mainline Protestant	3.6%	8.4%	—	—
Orthodox Christian	0.8%	1.8%	—	—
LDS (Mormon)	0.4%	0.9%	—	—
Non-religiousPopulation	57.0%	—	—	—

Click the chevron to expand denominations. Tradition and denomination rows label both share of total population and share of all religious adherents. Non-religious is shown as a share of total population only.

Explore Catholic adherence nationally

Who lives in the Detroit media market? 4,942,617 residents across 9 counties.

Demographic Comparison

Demographics

Read this geography's profile in three layers: local, state (where available), and national baseline.

Detroit vs National4.9M residents

Population & electorate

Scale, voting-age share, and this geography's footprint inside the national electorate.

Total population

Local vs state vs U.S.

4.9M

local

4.9MNational 334.9M

Share of U.S. population

Local vs state vs U.S.

1.48%

local

1.48%National 100%

Voting-age population

Local vs state vs U.S.

77.3%

local

77.3%National 75.7%

Economic profile

Income, attainment, and ownership indicators that often shape coalition structure and turnout behavior.

Median household income

Local vs state vs U.S.

$78,465

local

$78,465National $83,960

Poverty rate

Local vs state vs U.S.

13.6%

local

13.6%National 12.5%

College degree

Local vs state vs U.S.

35.9%

local

35.9%National 35.6%

Homeownership

Local vs state vs U.S.

70.9%

local

70.9%National 65.2%

Community profile

Age structure, language use, and nativity signals that explain how this geography differs from state and nation.

Median age

Local vs state vs U.S.

40.0 yrs

local

40.0 yrsNational 39.1 yrs

Age 18–29

Local vs state vs U.S.

15.4%

local

15.4%National 15.7%

Age 65+

Local vs state vs U.S.

17.7%

local

17.7%National 17.0%

Foreign born

Local vs state vs U.S.

10.5%

local

10.5%National 14.1%

Non-English at home

Local vs state vs U.S.

14.4%

local

14.4%National 22.2%

English only

Local vs state vs U.S.

85.6%

local

85.6%National 77.8%

Voter Turnout

Turnout in Detroit

Estimated using 2020 Census voting-age population.

2024 Turnout

72.2%

vs Previous

+0.6pp

Voting-Age Pop

3,821,314

History

1988–2024

Competitiveness

How competitive is Detroit?

Likely DAvg margin: D+11.5 (last 3 elections)

2008

D+25.7

2012

D+20.3

2016

D+11.6

2020

D+14.5

2024

D+8.5

Elasticity

17.2pp

margin range

Party Flips

last 30 years

5-Elec Avg

D+16.1

Ticket-Splitting

Do voters in Detroit split their tickets?

Divergence between offices in the same election reveals persuadable voters.

ConsistencyModerate splitting (60/100)

2024 Office Comparisons

Offices	Margin A	Margin B	Split
President vs Senate	D+8.5	D+10.9	2.4pp

Average divergence across office pairs: 8.4pp

Containing Geography

Located In

Detroit sits inside these higher-level geographies.

Michigan(State)

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