Des Moines County, Iowa: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+15%. Democratic peak: D+41 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+15MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 38,4872024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,9282024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+41 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+37 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Trumbull County, OH · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Des Moines CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Des Moines 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 | +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% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 7,935 | 10,794 | 19,054 | ||
| R | 8,893 | 10,592 | 19,956 | ||
| R | 8,212 | 9,529 | 19,271 | ||
| D | 11,888 | 8,136 | 20,385 | ||
| D | 12,462 | 7,721 | 20,570 | ||
| D | 12,456 | 8,221 | 20,874 | ||
| D | 11,351 | 7,385 | 19,365 | ||
| D | 10,761 | 5,778 | 18,574 | ||
| D | 11,309 | 6,378 | 21,190 | ||
| D | 11,593 | 7,652 | 19,374 | ||
| D | 11,173 | 9,559 | 20,850 | ||
| D | 9,977 | 9,158 | 20,417 | ||
| D | 11,268 | 9,023 | 20,536 | ||
| R | 8,869 | 10,216 | 19,358 | ||
| D | 10,164 | 8,452 | 19,979 | ||
| D | 13,894 | 5,830 | 19,762 | ||
| R | 9,872 | 10,678 | 20,591 | ||
| R | 8,781 | 11,152 | 19,958 | ||
| R | 8,686 | 12,182 | 20,957 | ||
| D | 8,792 | 7,621 | 16,729 | ||
| R | 7,543 | 9,488 | 17,177 | ||
| R | 6,578 | 10,988 | 17,625 | ||
| D | 7,011 | 6,763 | 15,705 | ||
| D | 9,395 | 5,590 | 15,675 | ||
| R | 5,578 | 10,547 | 16,302 | ||
| R | 2,616 | 7,995 | 14,810 | ||
| R | 3,449 | 8,287 | 12,997 | ||
| R | 3,827 | 4,132 | 8,345 | ||
| D | 3,169 | 2,136 | 8,064 | ||
| R | 3,975 | 4,153 | 8,489 | ||
| R | 3,043 | 4,496 | 8,299 | ||
| R | 3,909 | 4,315 | 8,508 | ||
| R | 3,741 | 4,549 | 8,574 | ||
| D | 4,526 | 3,361 | 7,996 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
29.2%
Irish
12.6%
English
10.6%
American
6.6%
French
2.1%
Scottish
1.9%
Italian
1.1%
African American
3.8%
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.
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
$62,928
Des Moines County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Des Moines County$62,928
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Des Moines 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
12.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.3%
Working age (18–64)12.1%
Seniors (65+)10.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.9%
speak English only
Spanish1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 64.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
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.
The Democratic margin here peaked at forty-one points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved six points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifteen points.
A population of 38,487, a 86% 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 Trumbull County and Mower 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.
Des Moines County, Iowa. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/19057/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Des Moines County, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Des Moines County, Iowa voted Republican by 15.0 points (R+15), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 19,054 votes cast, 7,935 went Democratic and 10,794 went Republican.
What is Des Moines County, Iowa's political typology?
Akashic places Des Moines County, Iowa in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. 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 17 times, Republican 17 times, and other 0 times.
When did Des Moines County, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Des Moines County, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Des Moines County, Iowa?
Des Moines County, Iowa has a population of 38,487 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Des Moines County, Iowa?
Median household income in Des Moines County, Iowa is $62,928 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Des Moines County, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Des Moines County, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.