Austin leans Republican by roughly 28 points: about 36% of voters vote Democratic and 64% Republican.
About 70% of adults in Austin typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Austin, ~25% vote Democratic, ~45% Republican, and ~30% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Austin compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Austin leans more Republican than 25 of 39 neighbors.
Austin runs about 28 points more Republican than Michigan as a whole.
Why Austin leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per city to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Austin, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. Austin sits in the bottom quarter on density and about 99% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 16 points above the Michigan average of 83%. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 79% of households in Austin are family households, above 87% of cities.
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Austin, MI sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure. Paved ground does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban and built-up a place is.
Why turnout in Austin looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Austin is in the top quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 68%, about 8 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 93% of households in Austin own their home, about 18 points above the U.S. average of 75%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 98% of adults in Austin have completed high school, above 93% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- New Swanzy, MI R+21
- Princeton, MI R+28
- Gwinn, MI R+19
- Little Lake, MI R+20
- K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, MI R+12
- McFarland, MI R+33
- Northland, MI R+35
- Sands, MI R+14
- Skandia, MI R+13
- Palmer, MI R+19
Cities with Similar Populations
- Pyrites, NY R+2
- Elkol, WY R+78
- Grant, ID R+65
- Di Giorgio, CA R+31
- Pecan, PA R+53
- Hess, OK R+73
- Thomaston, MI R+30
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Michigan Department of State, Elections, distributed by the Voting and Election Science Team. Demographic inputs come from the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 5-year estimates and the 2020 Decennial Census). Health and environmental inputs come from the CDC (PLACES and the Environmental Justice Index). Land cover comes from the USGS and EPA. Election-day and lead-up weather come from PRISM 4km daily grids and the NOAA Global Historical Climatology Network. Mail-voting and election-administration patterns come from the MIT Election Lab's Survey of the Performance of American Elections. Block-group crime detail comes from CrimeGrade. Internet data and modeling support provided by ISPreports.org.
Modeling and analysis by the BestNeighborhood data science team. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.