Clay County, Iowa: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+43%. Republican peak: R+62 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+43MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 16,4612024 5-year
- Median household income
- $65,4282024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+25 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+62 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Cherokee County, IA · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Clay CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Clay County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | −36.5% |
| 1896 | −33.2% |
| 1900 | −48.0% |
| 1904 | −60.9% |
| 1908 | −41.5% |
| 1912 | +1.0% |
| 1916 | −13.9% |
| 1920 | −62.1% |
| 1924 | −54.5% |
| 1928 | −31.6% |
| 1932 | +19.9% |
| 1936 | +25.3% |
| 1940 | +8.2% |
| 1944 | +8.7% |
| 1948 | +8.8% |
| 1952 | −46.4% |
| 1956 | −26.1% |
| 1960 | −20.1% |
| 1964 | +21.1% |
| 1968 | −19.5% |
| 1972 | −21.8% |
| 1976 | −9.1% |
| 1980 | −14.8% |
| 1984 | −8.1% |
| 1988 | +6.8% |
| 1992 | +4.0% |
| 1996 | +6.9% |
| 2000 | −9.2% |
| 2004 | −15.7% |
| 2008 | −5.1% |
| 2012 | −18.4% |
| 2016 | −41.7% |
| 2020 | −38.7% |
| 2024 | −43.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,367 | 6,047 | 8,541 | ||
| R | 2,662 | 6,137 | 8,969 | ||
| R | 2,249 | 5,877 | 8,706 | ||
| R | 3,385 | 4,951 | 8,502 | ||
| R | 3,925 | 4,355 | 8,398 | ||
| R | 3,547 | 4,898 | 8,588 | ||
| R | 3,294 | 3,992 | 7,578 | ||
| D | 3,659 | 3,129 | 7,655 | ||
| D | 3,346 | 3,011 | 8,380 | ||
| D | 4,173 | 3,641 | 7,870 | ||
| R | 3,774 | 4,450 | 8,316 | ||
| R | 3,179 | 4,479 | 8,764 | ||
| R | 3,776 | 4,548 | 8,500 | ||
| R | 2,887 | 4,564 | 7,696 | ||
| R | 2,840 | 4,325 | 7,628 | ||
| D | 4,631 | 2,999 | 7,749 | ||
| R | 3,437 | 5,165 | 8,604 | ||
| R | 2,970 | 5,107 | 8,190 | ||
| R | 2,258 | 6,271 | 8,641 | ||
| D | 3,649 | 3,036 | 6,961 | ||
| D | 3,639 | 3,055 | 6,724 | ||
| D | 4,328 | 3,673 | 8,025 | ||
| D | 4,691 | 2,774 | 7,586 | ||
| D | 3,944 | 2,599 | 6,769 | ||
| R | 2,064 | 3,986 | 6,085 | ||
| R | 378 | 3,549 | 5,823 | ||
| R | 1,001 | 4,471 | 5,585 | ||
| R | 1,234 | 1,649 | 2,976 | ||
| O | 707 | 679 | 2,824 | ||
| R | 778 | 1,921 | 2,757 | ||
| R | 487 | 2,154 | 2,737 | ||
| R | 781 | 2,292 | 3,150 | ||
| R | 933 | 1,880 | 2,849 | ||
| R | 654 | 1,516 | 2,361 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
42.9%
Irish
10.1%
English
7.3%
American
5.9%
Scottish
1.6%
French
1.5%
Italian
1.2%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 42.3 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.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$65,428
Clay County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Clay County$65,428
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Clay County ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.1%
Working age (18–64)9.2%
Seniors (65+)10.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.8%
speak English only
Spanish2.3%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 35.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Clay County's rural agricultural economy and declining population track closely with broader shifts across Iowa's Small Lakes region, where Republican presidential margins have widened from single digits in the early 2000s to more than 40 points by 2024.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-two points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-three points.
A population of 16,461, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $65,428 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Cherokee County and Greene County.
Most similar counties
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.
Clay County, Iowa. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/19041/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Clay County, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Clay County, Iowa voted Republican by 43.1 points (R+43), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,541 votes cast, 2,367 went Democratic and 6,047 went Republican.
What is Clay County, Iowa's political typology?
Akashic places Clay County, Iowa in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 9 times, Republican 24 times, and other 1 times.
When did Clay County, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Clay County, Iowa voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Clay County, Iowa?
Clay County, Iowa has a population of 16,461 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Clay County, Iowa?
Median household income in Clay County, Iowa is $65,428 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Clay County, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Clay County, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.