† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
2 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupIowa City, IAIowaUnited States
German28.1%30.5%12.5%
Irish14.2%12.8%9.4%
English11.5%10.2%9.5%
Norwegian3.6%4.1%—
American3.3%4.6%5.3%
Italian2.7%1.6%4.8%
Swedish2.3%1.9%—
Czech2.3%——
African American†4.3%2.6%9.9%
African0.9%0.3%0.5%
Sudanese0.9%0.2%—
Nigerian0.2%—0.2%
Ghanaian0.2%——
Kenyan0.2%——
Mexican4.1%5.0%11.3%
Puerto Rican0.5%0.3%1.8%
Colombian0.3%—0.4%
Honduran0.3%0.2%0.3%
Salvadoran0.3%0.3%0.7%
Guatemalan0.2%0.4%0.5%
Spanish0.2%——
Chinese1.4%0.3%1.3%
Asian Indian1.0%0.5%1.4%
Vietnamese0.6%0.3%0.6%
Korean0.6%0.2%0.4%
Filipino0.3%0.2%0.9%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Iowa City, IA
Iowa
United States
Median age
32.2
38.8
39.1
Age 18–24
19.1%
10.0%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
14.2%
18.1%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Iowa City, IA
Iowa
United States
Median household income
$75,025
$75,059
$84,427
Poverty rate
16.0%
11.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
51.5%
31.8%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Iowa City, IA
Iowa
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
13.8%
9.2%
22.3%
Spanish
4.3%
4.7%
13.6%
French (incl. Cajun & Haitian)
1.3%
0.3%
0.7%
Chinese (incl. Mandarin & Cantonese)
1.3%
0.3%
1.1%
Arabic
1.6%
0.3%
0.4%
Religious landscape
Measure
Iowa City, IA
Iowa
United States
Catholic
12.0%
14.7%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
6.1%
10.9%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
68.7%
55.2%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
9.2%
15.8%
5.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Iowa City, IA
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
+6.4%
1896
−2.9%
1900
−3.8%
1904
−8.9%
1908
+0.4%
1912
+22.7%
1916
+3.0%
1920
−22.1%
1924
−20.5%
1928
−14.2%
1932
+17.1%
1936
+12.3%
1940
+0.7%
1944
+0.6%
1948
+1.1%
1952
−25.9%
1956
−18.5%
1960
−9.8%
1964
+30.9%
1968
−0.2%
1972
+8.3%
1976
+7.2%
1980
+10.6%
1984
+11.0%
1988
+25.5%
1992
+23.7%
1996
+27.3%
2000
+20.0%
2004
+23.3%
2008
+36.1%
2012
+30.5%
2016
+30.4%
2020
+35.4%
2024
+30.5%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
64.3%Harris63,143
33.8%Trump33,206
1.9%
D+30.5
R+4.9
D+31.9
98,232
D
66.7%Biden63,738
31.3%Trump29,896
2.1%
D+35.4
D+5.0
D+30.9
95,616
D
61.1%Clinton54,143
30.7%Trump27,217
8.1%
D+30.4
R+0.1
D+28.3
88,568
D
64.1%Obama55,781
33.6%Romney29,260
2.2%
D+30.5
R+5.7
D+26.6
86,981
D
67.2%Obama56,197
31.1%McCain25,979
1.7%
D+36.1
D+12.8
D+28.9
83,601
D
61.1%Kerry46,442
37.7%Bush28,692
1.2%
D+23.3
D+3.3
D+25.8
76,061
D
56.7%Gore35,106
36.7%Bush22,726
6.5%
D+20.0
R+7.3
D+19.5
61,863
D
58.8%Clinton31,716
31.5%Dole17,002
9.6%
D+27.3
D+3.6
D+18.8
53,905
D
52.7%Clinton32,040
29.0%Bush17,617
18.3%
D+23.7
R+1.8
D+18.2
60,792
D
62.3%Dukakis32,535
36.7%Bush19,194
1.0%
D+25.5
D+14.6
D+33.3
52,263
D
55.1%Mondale29,079
44.1%Reagan23,290
0.8%
D+11.0
D+0.3
D+29.2
52,814
D
45.4%Carter22,999
34.8%Reagan17,609
19.8%
D+10.6
D+3.4
D+20.4
50,624
D
50.9%Carter23,656
43.7%Ford20,308
5.5%
D+7.2
R+1.1
D+5.1
46,517
D
53.5%McGovern23,706
45.1%Nixon20,010
1.4%
D+8.3
D+8.5
D+31.5
44,325
R
47.9%Humphrey16,220
48.1%Nixon16,283
4.1%
R+0.2
R+31.1
D+0.5
33,887
D
65.4%Johnson19,304
34.4%Goldwater10,175
0.2%
D+30.9
D+40.7
D+8.3
29,537
R
45.1%Kennedy13,785
54.9%Nixon16,788
0.1%
R+9.8
D+8.7
R+10.0
30,597
R
40.7%Stevenson11,789
59.2%Eisenhower17,142
0.1%
R+18.5
D+7.5
R+3.1
28,952
R
36.9%Stevenson10,671
62.8%Eisenhower18,177
0.3%
R+25.9
R+27.1
R+15.2
28,935
D
49.3%Truman12,096
48.1%Dewey11,819
2.6%
D+1.1
D+0.5
R+3.4
24,548
D
50.1%Roosevelt11,857
49.5%Dewey11,704
0.4%
D+0.6
R+0.1
R+6.8
23,660
D
50.2%Roosevelt13,047
49.4%Willkie12,855
0.4%
D+0.7
R+11.5
R+9.2
25,999
D
55.2%Roosevelt13,173
42.9%Landon10,248
1.8%
D+12.3
R+4.8
R+12.0
23,861
D
57.7%Roosevelt13,318
40.6%Hoover9,373
1.7%
D+17.1
D+31.3
R+0.7
23,078
R
42.7%Smith9,935
57.0%Hoover13,236
0.3%
R+14.2
D+6.3
D+3.3
23,240
R
30.3%Davis6,438
50.7%Coolidge10,794
19.0%
R+20.5
D+1.6
D+4.7
21,269
R
38.2%Cox7,289
60.3%Harding11,509
1.6%
R+22.1
R+25.1
D+4.1
19,100
D
50.9%Wilson5,789
47.9%Hughes5,449
1.1%
D+3.0
R+19.7
R+0.2
11,366
D
49.9%Wilson5,330
27.2%Taft2,909
22.9%
D+22.7
D+22.3
D+3.1
10,683
D
49.2%Bryan5,433
48.8%Taft5,389
2.0%
D+0.4
D+9.3
D+10.0
11,040
R
44.2%Parker4,857
53.1%Roosevelt5,838
2.7%
R+8.9
R+5.1
D+10.7
10,992
R
47.1%Bryan5,416
50.9%McKinley5,854
2.0%
R+3.8
R+0.9
D+3.7
11,499
R
47.6%Bryan5,462
50.5%McKinley5,792
2.0%
R+2.9
R+9.3
D+3.2
11,480
D
51.7%Cleveland5,361
45.3%Harrison4,697
3.1%
D+6.4
—
D+4.7
10,375
Congressional elections · 2 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2022
D
67.2%48,651
32.7%23,695
72,414
2020
D
65.3%61,582
32.4%30,546
94,240
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024D+23.2
vs
Presidential vote · 2024D+30.5
Registration leans Democratic; the presidential vote runs 7.3 points more Republican.
DemocraticRepublicanUnaffiliatedOther parties
Voter registration in Iowa City, IA
Year
Total registered
Democratic
Republican
Unaffiliated
Other
2008
117,662
51,082
24,879
41,546
155
2010
121,474
50,512
26,753
43,870
339
2012
127,829
51,964
28,741
46,679
445
2014
125,793
50,273
27,932
46,872
716
2016
126,413
54,308
29,241
41,776
1,088
2018
126,745
54,652
27,379
43,452
1,262
2020
129,535
62,276
27,310
38,720
1,229
2022
129,708
60,200
27,091
41,206
1,211
2024
130,825
57,906
27,563
44,097
1,259
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net domestic migration over time
−132 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net +1,005 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Domestic migration in Iowa City, IA in Iowa City, IA: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
+578
2012
+1,201
2013
+839
2014
+393
2015
+276
2016
−86
2017
+419
2018
−515
2019
−997
2021
+592
2022
+24
2023
−892
2024
−695
2025
−132
Home to the University of Iowa, Iowa City's metro turns out among the highest shares of college-degree holders in the state, a demographic pattern that has increasingly tilted its margins toward Democratic candidates in recent election cycles.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 36.1 points in 2008 and a Republican high of 25.9 points in 1952. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 4.9 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 30.5 points.
A population of 179,200, a 77% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $75,025 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Madison, WI and Ithaca, NY.
Akashic
Political twins — metros
The metros 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.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Iowa City, IA. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/26980/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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In 2024, Iowa City, IA voted Democratic by 30.5 points (D+30.5), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 98,232 votes cast, 63,143 went Democratic and 33,206 went Republican.
When did Iowa City, IA last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Iowa City, IA voted Republican was 1968.
How many people live in Iowa City, IA?
Iowa City, IA has a population of 179,200 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Iowa City, IA?
Median household income in Iowa City, IA is $75,025 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Iowa City, IA?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Iowa City, IA from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 10 went Republican.
