Des Moines County, Iowa
Precinct data
Results by precinct
17 precincts · 18,998 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
| Precinct -PCT 8PCT 8 | 931 | 943 | 27 | 1,901 | 49.0% | 49.6% | R+0.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precinct -PCT 1PCT 1 | 775 | 934 | 19 | 1,728 | 44.8% | 54.1% | R+9.2 |
| Precinct -Mediapolis Town / Franklin & Yellow Spring TwpsMediapolis Town / Franklin & Yellow Spring Twps | 422 | 1,235 | 19 | 1,676 | 25.2% | 73.7% | R+48.5 |
| Precinct -PCT 4PCT 4 | 735 | 787 | 23 | 1,545 | 47.6% | 50.9% | R+3.4 |
| Precinct -Flint River Twp / MiddletownFlint River Twp / Middletown | 541 | 913 | 22 | 1,476 | 36.7% | 61.9% | R+25.2 |
| Precinct -PCT 7PCT 7 | 680 | 755 | 18 | 1,453 | 46.8% | 52.0% | R+5.2 |
| Precinct -West Burlington TownWest Burlington Town | 651 | 693 | 20 | 1,364 | 47.7% | 50.8% | R+3.1 |
| Precinct -PCT 3PCT 3 | 639 | 625 | 20 | 1,284 | 49.8% | 48.7% | D+1.1 |
| Precinct -PCT 5PCT 5 | 583 | 518 | 25 | 1,126 | 51.8% | 46.0% | D+5.8 |
| Precinct -PCT 2PCT 2 | 543 | 480 | 22 | 1,045 | 52.0% | 45.9% | D+6.0 |
| Precinct -Danville Town / Danville TwpDanville Town / Danville Twp | 251 | 730 | 14 | 995 | 25.2% | 73.4% | R+48.1 |
| Precinct -Benton / Huron / Jackson TwpsBenton / Huron / Jackson Twps | 199 | 582 | 10 | 791 | 25.2% | 73.6% | R+48.4 |
| Precinct -PCT 6PCT 6 | 410 | 326 | 9 | 745 | 55.0% | 43.8% | D+11.3 |
| Precinct -Tama TwpTama Twp | 162 | 385 | 8 | 555 | 29.2% | 69.4% | R+40.2 |
| Precinct -Union TwpUnion Twp | 152 | 307 | 4 | 463 | 32.8% | 66.3% | R+33.5 |
| Precinct -Concordia TwpConcordia Twp | 178 | 252 | 5 | 435 | 40.9% | 57.9% | R+17.0 |
| Precinct -Pleasant Grove / Washington TwpsPleasant Grove / Washington Twps | 83 | 329 | 4 | 416 | 20.0% | 79.1% | R+59.1 |
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +14.6% |
| 1896 | −9.4% |
| 1900 | −4.8% |
| 1904 | −17.5% |
| 1908 | −2.1% |
| 1912 | +12.8% |
| 1916 | −3.7% |
| 1920 | −37.2% |
| 1924 | −36.3% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +24.3% |
| 1936 | +1.6% |
| 1940 | −25.0% |
| 1944 | −11.3% |
| 1948 | +7.0% |
| 1952 | −16.7% |
| 1956 | −11.9% |
| 1960 | −3.9% |
| 1964 | +40.8% |
| 1968 | +8.6% |
| 1972 | −7.0% |
| 1976 | +10.9% |
| 1980 | +4.0% |
| 1984 | +7.7% |
| 1988 | +20.3% |
| 1992 | +23.3% |
| 1996 | +26.8% |
| 2000 | +20.5% |
| 2004 | +20.3% |
| 2008 | +23.0% |
| 2012 | +18.4% |
| 2016 | −6.8% |
| 2020 | −8.5% |
| 2024 | −15.0% |
U.S. Senate
| Year | Won | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | R | 44.2%5,836 | 55.8%7,353 | 13,189 |
| 2020 | R | 47.5%9,296 | 48.3%9,468 | 19,587 |
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Des Moines County, IA registers Democratic but votes Republican — a 17-point gap between how voters register and how they vote, the signature of ancestral registration that trails realignment.
| Year | Total registered | Democratic | Republican | Unaffiliated | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 29,105 | 14,090 | 6,189 | 8,813 | 13 |
| 2010 | 29,212 | 13,226 | 6,657 | 9,311 | 18 |
| 2012 | 29,401 | 12,904 | 6,809 | 9,659 | 29 |
| 2014 | 28,313 | 12,003 | 6,492 | 9,766 | 52 |
| 2016 | 28,517 | 11,500 | 7,122 | 9,763 | 132 |
| 2018 | 28,385 | 11,033 | 7,092 | 10,065 | 195 |
| 2020 | 28,735 | 11,189 | 8,081 | 9,241 | 224 |
| 2022 | 27,846 | 10,056 | 8,185 | 9,363 | 242 |
| 2024 | 27,961 | 9,019 | 8,532 | 10,124 | 286 |
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
+27 net domestic migration · 2025
Net −1,838 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $54,710 in average income, against $86,773 for residents who stayed — 37% lower. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
The places arrivals came from lean R+18.6 on average — 3.5 points more Republican-leaning than Des Moines County, IA itself (R+15.0).
Where arrivals came from lean of each source
- Lee County, IA87R+27.7
- Henry County, IA76R+35.9
- Henderson County, IL47R+38.8
- Cook County, IL33D+41.6
- Louisa County, IA33R+40.9
- Scott County, IA28R+3.9
Where departures went households, 2022–23
- Lee County, IA84
- Henry County, IA60
- Johnson County, IA46
- Henderson County, IL33
- Linn County, IA31
- Polk County, IA28
Migration is one input to a place’s political change, not its cause — a shift can also come from residents changing their minds, generational turnover, or turnout. These figures describe the places people moved between; they do not measure how any mover voted.
| Year | Net domestic migration |
|---|---|
| 2011 | −207 |
| 2012 | +158 |
| 2013 | +134 |
| 2014 | −332 |
| 2015 | −238 |
| 2016 | −294 |
| 2017 | −284 |
| 2018 | −215 |
| 2019 | −173 |
| 2021 | −242 |
| 2022 | −186 |
| 2023 | +80 |
| 2024 | −66 |
| 2025 | +27 |
Des Moines County anchors Iowa's southeastern corner at the confluence of the Iowa and Mississippi rivers. Once a reliably competitive bellwether, it has trended Republican in each of the last three presidential cycles, landing at R+15 in 2024.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 40.8 points in 1964 and a Republican high of 37.2 points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 6.5 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 15.0 points.
A population of 38,487, a 85% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $62,928 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lee County and Knox County.
The counties 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.
Browse places by community — income, education, race & ethnicity, language — all community cuts →
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 →
Des Moines County, Iowa. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/19057/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.