Mahaska County, Iowa: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+51%. Republican peak: R+51 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+51MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 22,0212024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,9402024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+26 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Sherman County, NE · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Mahaska CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Mahaska 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 | −13.1% |
| 1896 | −3.4% |
| 1900 | −10.6% |
| 1904 | −26.3% |
| 1908 | −4.2% |
| 1912 | +13.9% |
| 1916 | +0.1% |
| 1920 | −32.6% |
| 1924 | −39.2% |
| 1928 | −39.1% |
| 1932 | +8.7% |
| 1936 | +7.0% |
| 1940 | −3.1% |
| 1944 | −4.7% |
| 1948 | +1.0% |
| 1952 | −31.5% |
| 1956 | −26.3% |
| 1960 | −31.0% |
| 1964 | +25.6% |
| 1968 | −19.5% |
| 1972 | −30.0% |
| 1976 | −4.2% |
| 1980 | −16.2% |
| 1984 | −19.2% |
| 1988 | −3.7% |
| 1992 | −12.1% |
| 1996 | −8.2% |
| 2000 | −27.3% |
| 2004 | −28.6% |
| 2008 | −16.5% |
| 2012 | −20.5% |
| 2016 | −44.9% |
| 2020 | −47.4% |
| 2024 | −51.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,577 | 8,207 | 10,946 | ||
| R | 2,894 | 8,297 | 11,404 | ||
| R | 2,619 | 7,432 | 10,723 | ||
| R | 4,213 | 6,448 | 10,883 | ||
| R | 4,464 | 6,271 | 10,932 | ||
| R | 3,790 | 6,858 | 10,728 | ||
| R | 3,370 | 5,971 | 9,543 | ||
| R | 3,737 | 4,473 | 8,941 | ||
| R | 3,714 | 4,953 | 10,247 | ||
| R | 4,451 | 4,798 | 9,320 | ||
| R | 4,107 | 6,086 | 10,293 | ||
| R | 3,968 | 5,650 | 10,363 | ||
| R | 4,838 | 5,267 | 10,251 | ||
| R | 3,382 | 6,374 | 9,988 | ||
| R | 3,721 | 5,670 | 9,970 | ||
| D | 6,396 | 3,787 | 10,205 | ||
| R | 3,746 | 7,129 | 10,901 | ||
| R | 3,965 | 6,864 | 11,034 | ||
| R | 3,745 | 7,369 | 11,523 | ||
| D | 4,327 | 4,238 | 9,030 | ||
| R | 4,652 | 5,123 | 10,072 | ||
| R | 5,757 | 6,123 | 11,977 | ||
| D | 6,094 | 5,270 | 11,726 | ||
| D | 5,586 | 4,655 | 10,713 | ||
| R | 3,200 | 7,368 | 10,665 | ||
| R | 1,673 | 5,810 | 10,543 | ||
| R | 3,339 | 6,739 | 10,440 | ||
| D | 3,151 | 3,143 | 6,529 | ||
| D | 2,576 | 1,682 | 6,448 | ||
| R | 3,035 | 3,326 | 6,856 | ||
| R | 2,287 | 4,091 | 6,867 | ||
| R | 3,596 | 4,480 | 8,312 | ||
| R | 3,974 | 4,256 | 8,396 | ||
| R | 2,428 | 3,340 | 6,976 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.5%
English
15.7%
Irish
11.7%
American
6.2%
Scottish
1.5%
French
1.4%
Polish
0.7%
African American
1.0%
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: 39.0 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
$70,940
Mahaska County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Mahaska County$70,940
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Mahaska 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
12.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.7%
Working age (18–64)12.2%
Seniors (65+)9.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.5%
speak English only
Spanish1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.1%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Mahaska County, anchored by Oskaloosa, has swung sharply rightward over the past decade — its R+51.4 margin in 2024 reflects a broader rural Iowa realignment that has compressed Democratic performance across the state's small-town heartland.
The Democratic margin here peaked at twenty-six points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-one points.
A population of 22,021, a 92% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $70,940 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Sherman County and Morton 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.
Mahaska County, Iowa. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/19123/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Mahaska County, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Mahaska County, Iowa voted Republican by 51.4 points (R+51), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,946 votes cast, 2,577 went Democratic and 8,207 went Republican.
What is Mahaska County, Iowa's political typology?
Akashic places Mahaska 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 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Mahaska County, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Mahaska County, Iowa voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Mahaska County, Iowa?
Mahaska County, Iowa has a population of 22,021 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Mahaska County, Iowa?
Median household income in Mahaska County, Iowa is $70,940 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Mahaska County, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Mahaska County, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.