Polk County, Iowa: Democratic loyalist county. In 2024, voted D+11%. Republican peak: R+57 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+11MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Democratic loyalistAkashic typology
- Population
- 503,1752024 5-year
- Median household income
- $83,5762024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 75.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+33 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Story County, IA · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Polk CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Polk County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 140,075 | 112,240 | 256,838 | ||
| D | 146,250 | 106,800 | 258,755 | ||
| D | 119,804 | 93,492 | 233,385 | ||
| D | 128,465 | 96,096 | 228,882 | ||
| D | 120,984 | 89,668 | 214,386 | ||
| D | 105,218 | 95,828 | 202,618 | ||
| D | 89,715 | 79,927 | 174,167 | ||
| D | 83,877 | 60,884 | 156,106 | ||
| D | 78,585 | 63,708 | 167,258 | ||
| D | 84,476 | 57,854 | 143,144 | ||
| D | 75,413 | 71,413 | 147,848 | ||
| R | 61,984 | 64,156 | 143,758 | ||
| D | 71,917 | 62,316 | 137,763 | ||
| R | 59,169 | 70,245 | 132,659 | ||
| D | 52,731 | 51,814 | 114,784 | ||
| D | 74,194 | 37,280 | 111,953 | ||
| R | 55,091 | 64,077 | 119,234 | ||
| R | 53,025 | 62,392 | 115,491 | ||
| R | 50,867 | 60,934 | 112,783 | ||
| D | 45,289 | 33,742 | 81,379 | ||
| D | 46,072 | 36,629 | 83,118 | ||
| D | 51,647 | 41,245 | 93,193 | ||
| D | 44,274 | 33,819 | 79,460 | ||
| R | 31,517 | 34,023 | 68,672 | ||
| R | 19,725 | 42,290 | 62,513 | ||
| R | 6,665 | 37,491 | 60,270 | ||
| R | 16,281 | 36,073 | 53,986 | ||
| D | 12,327 | 11,295 | 24,656 | ||
| O | 7,239 | 4,665 | 22,575 | ||
| R | 7,924 | 12,555 | 21,640 | ||
| R | 3,086 | 14,113 | 19,458 | ||
| R | 6,180 | 12,628 | 19,511 | ||
| R | 7,087 | 11,127 | 18,471 | ||
| R | 5,538 | 7,757 | 14,428 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.5%
Irish
13.3%
English
11.8%
American
3.3%
Italian
3.2%
Scottish
2.0%
French
1.4%
African American
5.9%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 36.2 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$83,576
Polk County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Polk County$83,576
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.0%
Working age (18–64)9.3%
Seniors (65+)7.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
85.3%
speak English only
Spanish7.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.3%
Other Indo-European2.4%
Other languages2.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to the state capital and nearly 12% of Iowa's population, Polk County has voted Democratic in every presidential race since 2000, with its 2024 margin of D+10.8 standing as an outlier in an otherwise deeply Republican state.
The Democratic margin in Polk County reached its widest at thirty-three points in 1964. The margin in 2024 was eleven points — still decisive.
Its loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $83,576, a 76% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 503,175 together describe a community whose political habits are deeply settled. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Story County and Presidio County.
Most similar counties
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Polk County, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://akashic.app/county/19153/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More democratic loyalist counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Polk County, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Polk County, Iowa voted Democratic by 10.8 points (D+11), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 256,838 votes cast, 140,075 went Democratic and 112,240 went Republican.
What is Polk County, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Polk County, Iowa as a "Democratic loyalist" county based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 19 times, Republican 14 times, and other 1 times.
When did Polk County, Iowa last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Polk County, Iowa voted Republican was 1980.
How many people live in Polk County, Iowa?
Polk County, Iowa has a population of 503,175 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Polk County, Iowa?
Median household income in Polk County, Iowa is $83,576 — above the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Polk County, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Polk County, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 19 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The county's archetype — "Democratic loyalist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.