Houghton Lake leans Republican by roughly 28 points: about 36% of voters vote Democratic and 64% Republican.
About 94% of adults in Houghton Lake typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Houghton Lake, ~34% vote Democratic, ~60% Republican, and ~6% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Houghton Lake compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Houghton Lake leans more Republican than 3 of 24 neighbors.
Houghton Lake runs about 27 points more Republican than Michigan as a whole.
Why Houghton Lake 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 Houghton Lake, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Houghton Lake, about 94% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 21 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 17% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 9 points below the Michigan average of 26%.
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with high colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Houghton Lake, MI sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. Cancer screening does not drive turnout; it reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access.
Why turnout in Houghton Lake looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Houghton Lake 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 65%, above 68% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Houghton Lake Heights, MI R+35
- Prudenville, MI R+27
- Houghton Point, MI R+29
- Meads Landing, MI R+36
- Merritt, MI R+59
- Higgins Lake, MI R+22
- Roscommon, MI R+25
- Prosper, MI R+62
- Falmouth, MI R+57
- St. Helen, MI R+29
Cities with Similar Populations
- Lake City, MN R+19
- Coupeville, WA D+19
- Rockport, MA D+39
- Morton, PA D+9
- Trenton, TN R+43
- Milford, NJ R+23
- Grass Lake, MI R+26
- Chepachet, RI R+16
- Cicero, IN R+37
- West Harrison, IN R+61
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.