† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
20042024
Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · 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
GroupAmesIowaUnited States
German27.6%30.5%12.5%
Irish10.3%12.8%9.4%
English9.9%10.2%9.5%
Norwegian7.4%4.1%—
American2.8%4.6%5.3%
Swedish2.4%1.9%—
Italian2.2%1.6%4.8%
Dutch2.2%2.7%—
Chinese2.7%0.3%1.3%
Asian Indian2.0%0.5%1.4%
Korean1.6%0.2%0.4%
Filipino0.4%0.2%0.9%
Vietnamese0.4%0.3%0.6%
Bangladeshi0.4%——
Mexican2.7%5.0%11.3%
Puerto Rican0.4%0.3%1.8%
Guatemalan0.3%0.4%0.5%
Cuban0.2%—0.7%
Venezuelan0.2%——
Spanish0.2%——
African American†2.5%2.6%9.9%
African0.6%0.3%0.5%
Sudanese0.4%0.2%—
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
Ames
Iowa
United States
Median age
23.3
38.8
39.1
Age 18–24
43.6%
10.0%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
11.0%
18.1%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Ames
Iowa
United States
Median household income
$60,991
$75,059
$84,427
Poverty rate
25.5%
11.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
65.8%
31.8%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Ames
Iowa
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
14.0%
9.2%
22.3%
Spanish
2.2%
4.7%
13.6%
Other Indo-European
3.5%
0.6%
2.0%
Korean
1.2%
0.1%
0.3%
Chinese (incl. Mandarin & Cantonese)
2.4%
0.3%
1.1%
Religious landscape
Measure
Ames
Iowa
United States
Catholic
—
14.7%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
—
10.9%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
—
55.2%
51.5%
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.
Ames, Iowa
presidential history
Presidential margin, 2004–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
2004
+15.7%
2008
+26.3%
2012
+23.8%
2016
+25.6%
2020
+35.6%
2024
+26.6%
DemocraticRepublican
6 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. Third-party votes in 2012 are allocated from certified county totals by this place's share of each county's two-party vote — that cycle's precinct source records two-party splits. † 2004 sub-county results are estimated: the source's block-level detail for this cycle was unreliable — either county/municipality-level consolidated reporting (COVID-era) or a precinct-to-block allocation that misplaced votes — so the figures are allocated from the constituent county totals in proportion to the place and scaled to certified totals.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
62.1%Harris18,799
35.5%Trump10,750
2.3%
D+26.6
R+9.0
D+28.1
30,253
D
66.2%Biden21,036
30.6%Trump9,721
3.1%
D+35.6
D+10.0
D+31.2
31,756
D
57.1%Clinton19,088
31.5%Trump10,528
11.3%
D+25.6
D+1.8
D+23.5
33,401
D
60.5%Obama18,153
36.7%Romney11,011
2.7%
D+23.8
R+2.5
D+20.0
29,984
D
62.0%Obama18,737
35.7%McCain10,785
2.4%
D+26.3
D+10.6
D+19.0
30,240
D
57.1%Kerry16,399
41.4%Bush11,883
1.5%
D+15.7
—
D+18.2
28,727
Home to Iowa State University, Ames skews younger and more highly educated than most Iowa cities, producing voting patterns that diverge sharply from the surrounding Story County countryside.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 35.6 points in 2020. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 9.0 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 26.6 points.
A population of 67,669, a 78% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $60,991 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Iowa City and Columbia.
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, Ames, Iowa voted Democratic by 26.6 points (D+26.6), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 30,253 votes cast, 18,799 went Democratic and 10,750 went Republican.
How many people live in Ames, Iowa?
Ames, Iowa has a population of 67,669 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ames, Iowa?
Median household income in Ames, Iowa is $60,991 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Ames, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Ames, Iowa from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 0 went Republican.
