Polk County, Iowa: Diversifying Metro county. In 2024, voted D+11%. Republican peak: R+57 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+11MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Diversifying MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 503,1752024 5-year
- Median household income
- $83,5762024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 75.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+33 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Story County, IA · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Polk CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Polk 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 | −15.4% |
| 1896 | −21.9% |
| 1900 | −33.0% |
| 1904 | −56.7% |
| 1908 | −21.4% |
| 1912 | +11.4% |
| 1916 | +4.2% |
| 1920 | −36.7% |
| 1924 | −51.1% |
| 1928 | −36.1% |
| 1932 | −3.6% |
| 1936 | +13.2% |
| 1940 | +11.2% |
| 1944 | +11.4% |
| 1948 | +14.2% |
| 1952 | −8.9% |
| 1956 | −8.1% |
| 1960 | −7.5% |
| 1964 | +33.0% |
| 1968 | +0.8% |
| 1972 | −8.3% |
| 1976 | +7.0% |
| 1980 | −1.5% |
| 1984 | +2.7% |
| 1988 | +18.6% |
| 1992 | +8.9% |
| 1996 | +14.7% |
| 2000 | +5.6% |
| 2004 | +4.6% |
| 2008 | +14.6% |
| 2012 | +14.1% |
| 2016 | +11.3% |
| 2020 | +15.2% |
| 2024 | +10.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 140,075 | 112,240 | 256,838 | ||
| D | 146,250 | 106,800 | 258,755 | ||
| D | 119,804 | 93,492 | 233,385 | ||
| D | 128,465 | 96,096 | 228,882 | ||
| D | 120,984 | 89,668 | 214,386 | ||
| D | 105,218 | 95,828 | 202,618 | ||
| D | 89,715 | 79,927 | 174,167 | ||
| D | 83,877 | 60,884 | 156,106 | ||
| D | 78,585 | 63,708 | 167,258 | ||
| D | 84,476 | 57,854 | 143,144 | ||
| D | 75,413 | 71,413 | 147,848 | ||
| R | 61,984 | 64,156 | 143,758 | ||
| D | 71,917 | 62,316 | 137,763 | ||
| R | 59,169 | 70,245 | 132,659 | ||
| D | 52,731 | 51,814 | 114,784 | ||
| D | 74,194 | 37,280 | 111,953 | ||
| R | 55,091 | 64,077 | 119,234 | ||
| R | 53,025 | 62,392 | 115,491 | ||
| R | 50,867 | 60,934 | 112,783 | ||
| D | 45,289 | 33,742 | 81,379 | ||
| D | 46,072 | 36,629 | 83,118 | ||
| D | 51,647 | 41,245 | 93,193 | ||
| D | 44,274 | 33,819 | 79,460 | ||
| R | 31,517 | 34,023 | 68,672 | ||
| R | 19,725 | 42,290 | 62,513 | ||
| R | 6,665 | 37,491 | 60,270 | ||
| R | 16,281 | 36,073 | 53,986 | ||
| D | 12,327 | 11,295 | 24,656 | ||
| O | 7,239 | 4,665 | 22,575 | ||
| R | 7,924 | 12,555 | 21,640 | ||
| R | 3,086 | 14,113 | 19,458 | ||
| R | 6,180 | 12,628 | 19,511 | ||
| R | 7,087 | 11,127 | 18,471 | ||
| R | 5,538 | 7,757 | 14,428 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.5%
Irish
13.3%
English
11.8%
American
3.3%
Italian
3.2%
Scottish
2.0%
French
1.4%
African American
5.9%
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: 36.2 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
$83,576
Polk County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Polk County$83,576
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Polk County ranks in the top 25% 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
10.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.0%
Working age (18–64)9.3%
Seniors (65+)7.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
85.3%
speak English only
Spanish7.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.3%
Other Indo-European2.4%
Other languages2.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to the state capital and nearly 12% of Iowa's population, Polk County has voted Democratic in every presidential race since 2000, with its 2024 margin of D+10.8 standing as an outlier in an otherwise deeply Republican state.
The Democratic margin here reached thirty-three points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was eleven points.
A population of 503,175, a 76% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $83,576 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Story County and Presidio 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.
Polk County, Iowa. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/19153/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More diversifying metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Polk County, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Polk County, Iowa voted Democratic by 10.8 points (D+11), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 256,838 votes cast, 140,075 went Democratic and 112,240 went Republican.
What is Polk County, Iowa's political typology?
Akashic places Polk County, Iowa in the "Diversifying Metro" typology — Mid-size metropolitan counties growing more diverse and trending Democratic. 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 19 times, Republican 14 times, and other 1 times.
When did Polk County, Iowa last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Polk County, Iowa voted Republican was 1980.
How many people live in Polk County, Iowa?
Polk County, Iowa has a population of 503,175 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Polk County, Iowa?
Median household income in Polk County, Iowa is $83,576 — above the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Polk County, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Polk County, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 19 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The county's typology — "Diversifying Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.