The 10 Most Liberal Cities In Michigan For 2026


The most liberal cities in Michigan are Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

In this article, we will explore some of the most liberal cities in Michigan, where progressive ideas and inclusive attitudes flourish.

If you’re looking to move to Michigan and want to know where the majority of Michiganders lean left, you’ve come to the right place.

Specifically, we wanted to know which cities have the highest number of liberal voters in the Wolverine State.

To do so, we analyzed how the people in each city in Michigan with a population greater than 5,000 voted during the last presidential election. The cities with the highest percentage of voters who voted Democrat were named the most liberal cities in the state.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Most Liberal Places In Michigan For 2026:

  1. Ann Arbor
  2. Ypsilanti
  3. Saline
  4. Milan
  5. Chelsea
  6. Detroit
  7. Dearborn
  8. Livonia
  9. Westland
  10. Taylor

Most Liberal Cities In Michigan Map

If you’re wondering, Hillsdale is the most conservative city in Michigan of all those we measured.

And to be clear, we didn’t form this list based on our biases — we relied on the cold hard data. For more on how we ran the numbers, keep on reading. Then, we’ll take a closer look at each of our top 10 most liberal cities in Michigan.

And if you already knew these places were liberal, check out some more reading about Michigan and the most liberal places in the country:

The 10 Most Liberal Places In Michigan For 2026

Ann Arbor, MI

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10
Percent Democrat: 72.6%
More on Ann Arbor: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Ypsilanti, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Seidenstud | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Percent Democrat: 72.6%
More on Ypsilanti: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Saline, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Dwight Burdette | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10
Percent Democrat: 72.6%
More on Saline: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Milan, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Dwight Burdette at en.wikipedia | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Percent Democrat: 72.6%
More on Milan: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Chelsea, MI

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Percent Democrat: 72.6%
More on Chelsea: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Detroit, MI

Source: Wikipedia User User:AE at Quicken Loans | CC BY-SA 1.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10
Percent Democrat: 68.4%
More on Detroit: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Dearborn, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Dave Parker | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Percent Democrat: 68.4%
More on Dearborn: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Livonia, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Dave Parker | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10
Percent Democrat: 68.4%
More on Livonia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Westland, MI

Source: Wikipedia User PeRshGo | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10
Percent Democrat: 68.4%
More on Westland: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Taylor, MI

Source: Wikipedia User Booboobay1 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Percent Democrat: 68.4%
More on Taylor: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

How we determined the most liberal cities in Michigan for 2026

To find the most liberal places in Michigan, we used Saturday Night Science – the argument you’d make at a bar – to find the cities with the most liberals.

Straight forward.

We started by making a list of every city in Michigan over 5,000 people based on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. That left us with 153 cities and towns.

We then measured the voting record and MIT election data to determine which places lean the most leftward in their allegiances by:

  1. Percentage Of Votes For Democratic President In 2020

Because no voting data exists at the city level, we used county-level election results from the 2020 election. We assigned every city in a county the percentage of votes that went to the Democrats, effectively extending the county’s results to the city level. In cases where larger cities encompassed an entire county, the election outcomes accurately reflected the city’s political landscape.

The winner, Ann Arbor, is “The Most liberal City in Michigan For 2026”. The most conservative place in Michigan was Hillsdale.

We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the most liberal places to live in Michigan.

Summing Up The Liberal Snowflakes in Michigan

Well, there you have it, the places in Michigan that have the highest number of liberals per capita, with Ann Arbor ranking as the least conservative in the entire state.

The most liberal cities in Michigan are Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Saline, Milan, Chelsea, Detroit, Dearborn, Livonia, Westland, and Taylor.

If you’re curious, here are the least liberal cities in Michigan:

  1. Hillsdale
  2. Coldwater
  3. Greenville

For more Michigan reading, check out:

Most Liberal Places In Michigan

RankCityPopulation% Liberal
1Ann Arbor, MI122,03672.6%
2Ypsilanti, MI19,85772.6%
3Saline, MI9,00672.6%
4Milan, MI5,98772.6%
5Chelsea, MI5,42672.6%
6Detroit, MI638,53068.4%
7Dearborn, MI107,42368.4%
8Livonia, MI93,85168.4%
9Westland, MI83,63368.4%
10Taylor, MI62,08168.4%
11Dearborn Heights, MI61,77168.4%
12Lincoln Park, MI39,25768.4%
13Southgate, MI29,36668.4%
14Allen Park, MI27,92568.4%
15Hamtramck, MI27,74368.4%
16Garden City, MI26,73968.4%
17Inkster, MI25,42868.4%
18Romulus, MI24,83168.4%
19Wyandotte, MI24,48968.4%
20Trenton, MI18,12568.4%
21Wayne, MI17,31068.4%
22Grosse Pointe Woods, MI16,09468.4%
23Harper Woods, MI15,11668.4%
24Woodhaven, MI12,69068.4%
25Melvindale, MI12,55468.4%
26Riverview, MI12,18668.4%
27Grosse Pointe Park, MI11,31968.4%
28Flat Rock, MI10,34068.4%
29Grosse Pointe Farms, MI9,90468.4%
30Plymouth, MI9,21468.4%
31Ecorse, MI9,06468.4%
32Highland Park, MI8,62868.4%
33River Rouge, MI7,00868.4%
34Northville, MI6,06968.4%
35Grosse Pointe, MI5,54168.4%
36Lansing, MI113,02365.2%
37East Lansing, MI45,75865.2%
38Mason, MI8,24965.2%
39Kalamazoo, MI73,07658.4%
40Portage, MI49,25958.4%
41Troy, MI87,89856.4%
42Farmington Hills, MI83,51556.4%
43Rochester Hills, MI77,08956.4%
44Southfield, MI76,23656.4%
45Novi, MI66,71756.4%
46Pontiac, MI62,10456.4%
47Royal Oak, MI57,95056.4%
48Oak Park, MI29,31856.4%
49Madison Heights, MI28,41956.4%
50Auburn Hills, MI25,10556.4%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 900,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.