Participation measured against the same-year citizen voting-age population. Audited cycles count total general-election participants — ballots or participating voters, not presidential candidate votes. Cycles before 2016 predate that series and are derived from the certified presidential returns instead; they are marked everywhere they appear and are excluded from the figures below.
2004–20248 cycles · 5 audited
2024 turnout
60.7%10,924 participants ÷ 17,988 CVAP
2020→2022 drop-off
+19.2 ptsVolatile
Drop-off vs state
-1.8 ptsPositive means a larger decline than the statewide pattern
Mechanical 2026
41.6%–45.3%Recent-cycle and two-cycle persistence scenarios; not a forecast
Participation by cycle
Presidential Midterm Derived, pre-2016
0%20%40%60%80%
47.3%
43.1%
20042008201220162018202020222024
Select a presidential cycle to show it on the map and results ledger above.
Cycle
Participants
CVAP
Turnout
Series
Quality
10,924
17,988 ± 381
60.7%
Audited
E/A
2022Mid
7,874
18,265 ± 396
43.1%
Audited
E/A
11,644
18,698 ± 352
62.3%
Audited
E/A
2018Mid
8,969
18,979 ± 293
47.3%
Audited
E/A
11,318
19,178 ± 306
59.0%
Audited
E/A
11,790
19,487
60.5%
Derived
—
12,621
18,932
66.7%
Derived
—
12,820
18,377 extrapolated
69.8%
Derived
—
Sources and methods
Audited cycles (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024) count total general-election participants against the same-year CVAP special tabulation, each cell carrying its own numerator and denominator quality grade. Derived cycles (2004, 2008, 2012) come from the certified presidential returns on this page over the ACS 5-year CVAP series, so they measure presidential votes cast rather than ballots — a floor on participation. Where a derived cycle predates the ACS its denominator is extrapolated rather than read, and says so on its own line below. They are shown for the longer arc and are excluded from the drop-off, excess-drop-off, and 2026 scenario figures above.
2024: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 323/229.
2022: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 322/184.
2020: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 321/4.
2018: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 320/139.
2016: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 319/133.
2012 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2008 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2004 (derived): Certified presidential returns · extrapolated CVAP denominator; presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count; 2004 predates the ACS, so the denominator is a linear back-extrapolation from the 2008 and 2012 CVAP values, not a read figure.
presidential history
Party record book
Burlington, IA · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
2004–2024 · 6 presidential cycles
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2008
64.2%
8,098 votes · D+30.4
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2012 · 63.6%
Republican
Donald Trump2024
49.4%
5,368 votes · R+0.7
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2020 · 46.5%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2008
8,098votes
64.2% of the vote · D+30.4
Runner-up · John Kerry, 2004 · 8,093 votes
Republican
Donald Trump2020
5,382votes
46.5% of the vote · D+4.2
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2024 · 5,368 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
John Kerry2004
+30.1pts D vs U.S.
Place D+27.6 · U.S. R+2.5
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2012 · +25.2 pts
Republican
Donald Trump2020
+0.3pts R vs U.S.
Place D+4.2 · U.S. D+4.5
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2024 · −0.8 pts
U.S. House elections · 2 House
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each row shows U.S. House votes counted inside this Place. “Vote lead” is the local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
Burlington · which candidate this place backed in each party’s presidential nominating contest, cycle by cycle. A primary is a contest inside one party, so it has no Democratic–Republican margin and is not part of the general-election record above.
Akashic reports votes cast, not delegates awarded. The two can disagree: Clinton led the 2008 national primary popular vote by less than half a point and did not win the nomination.
Primary returns are published at county grain. The figures below are Des Moines County, Iowa, the county containing Burlington — Burlington’s own primary vote sits inside those totals and is not separately reported.
Presidential nominating contests in Burlington, by party and cycle.
○no contest record — Akashic holds no result for that party and cycle here. It is not a claim that no contest was held. Telling apart a contest that was cancelled, one that went uncontested, and one simply not yet ingested needs a nominating-contest calendar, which is a separate ingest from results and does not exist yet.
Republican presidential primaries are not yet ingested — the Republican series runs from 1856 and is in scope. The row is kept so its absence is visible: a Democratic-only panel would otherwise read as though no one else held a contest.
Akashic carries 10 states for 2012 and 3 states for 2024. Cycles in which an incumbent president seeks renomination are thin by nature — few states run a contested primary — so a sparse column is politics, not a hole in the record.
County returns carry a leader and a lead over the runner-up, and nothing more. The full candidate field with vote shares is published at state grain — follow a cycle above to the state contest for it.
Burlington anchors Des Moines County on the Iowa-Illinois border, where a shrinking industrial base and an aging population have steadily compressed what were once reliable double-digit margins into single-digit contests.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 30.4 points in 2008 and a Republican high of 0.7 points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 4.9 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 0.7 points.
A population of 23,728, a 82% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $59,000 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Newton and Clinton.
Akashic
Political twins — cities
The cities whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
In 2024, Burlington, Iowa voted Republican by 0.7 points (R+0.7), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,859 votes cast, 5,296 went Democratic and 5,368 went Republican.
When did Burlington, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Burlington, Iowa voted Democratic was 2020.
How many people live in Burlington, Iowa?
Burlington, Iowa has a population of 23,728 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Burlington, Iowa?
Median household income in Burlington, Iowa is $59,000 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Burlington, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Burlington, Iowa from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 1 went Republican.
