Tama County, Iowa: Florida Surge county. In 2024, voted R+27%. Republican peak: R+42 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+27MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Florida SurgeAkashic typology
- Population
- 16,8682024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,7812024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+26 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Cedar County, IA · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Tama CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Tama 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 | +3.3% |
| 1896 | −8.0% |
| 1900 | −9.0% |
| 1904 | −13.5% |
| 1908 | −4.0% |
| 1912 | +23.2% |
| 1916 | −8.5% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −32.0% |
| 1928 | −7.6% |
| 1932 | +24.3% |
| 1936 | +16.4% |
| 1940 | +1.1% |
| 1944 | +0.4% |
| 1948 | +3.5% |
| 1952 | −26.8% |
| 1956 | −10.7% |
| 1960 | −5.6% |
| 1964 | +26.2% |
| 1968 | −12.8% |
| 1972 | −15.4% |
| 1976 | +2.2% |
| 1980 | −20.8% |
| 1984 | −9.1% |
| 1988 | +15.3% |
| 1992 | +7.5% |
| 1996 | +13.0% |
| 2000 | +0.1% |
| 2004 | +0.3% |
| 2008 | +12.2% |
| 2012 | +7.4% |
| 2016 | −20.0% |
| 2020 | −19.1% |
| 2024 | −26.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,070 | 5,379 | 8,616 | ||
| R | 3,577 | 5,303 | 9,048 | ||
| R | 3,196 | 4,971 | 8,866 | ||
| D | 4,768 | 4,098 | 9,017 | ||
| D | 4,899 | 3,820 | 8,850 | ||
| D | 4,487 | 4,456 | 9,001 | ||
| D | 4,045 | 4,034 | 8,315 | ||
| D | 3,994 | 2,986 | 7,752 | ||
| D | 3,573 | 2,948 | 8,330 | ||
| D | 4,584 | 3,362 | 8,012 | ||
| R | 4,061 | 4,882 | 8,990 | ||
| R | 3,049 | 4,840 | 8,602 | ||
| D | 4,580 | 4,379 | 9,107 | ||
| R | 3,693 | 5,058 | 8,880 | ||
| R | 3,767 | 4,955 | 9,253 | ||
| D | 6,057 | 3,543 | 9,608 | ||
| R | 4,950 | 5,535 | 10,486 | ||
| R | 4,795 | 5,952 | 10,773 | ||
| R | 4,076 | 7,061 | 11,154 | ||
| D | 5,115 | 4,763 | 10,028 | ||
| D | 5,286 | 5,249 | 10,567 | ||
| D | 5,996 | 5,865 | 11,893 | ||
| D | 6,625 | 4,737 | 11,522 | ||
| D | 6,704 | 4,051 | 10,920 | ||
| R | 4,798 | 5,589 | 10,432 | ||
| R | 2,180 | 5,177 | 9,367 | ||
| R | 2,552 | 6,352 | 9,073 | ||
| R | 2,572 | 3,061 | 5,735 | ||
| D | 2,446 | 1,179 | 5,465 | ||
| R | 2,550 | 2,774 | 5,572 | ||
| R | 2,360 | 3,127 | 5,673 | ||
| R | 2,736 | 3,290 | 6,155 | ||
| R | 2,596 | 3,054 | 5,733 | ||
| D | 2,589 | 2,421 | 5,138 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
29.1%
Irish
10.3%
English
6.8%
American
3.1%
French
1.3%
Scottish
1.1%
Italian
1.0%
African American
1.0%
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: 41.5 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
$70,781
Tama County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Tama County$70,781
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Tama 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
14.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1823.2%
Working age (18–64)12.3%
Seniors (65+)11.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
88.8%
speak English only
Spanish7.3%
Other languages3.2%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 57.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Tama County is home to the Meskwaki Settlement, one of the few tribally owned land parcels in the Midwest purchased outright rather than held in federal trust, giving the county an unusual demographic and jurisdictional layer beneath its otherwise rural, agricultural profile.
The Democratic margin here once reached twenty-six points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved eight points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-seven points.
A population of 16,868, a 80% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $70,781 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Cedar County and Webster 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.
Tama County, Iowa. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/19171/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Tama County, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Tama County, Iowa voted Republican by 26.8 points (R+27), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,616 votes cast, 3,070 went Democratic and 5,379 went Republican.
What is Tama County, Iowa's political typology?
Akashic places Tama County, Iowa in the "Florida Surge" typology — Florida coastal and retiree counties that moved sharply Republican across the Trump era. 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 16 times, Republican 18 times, and other 0 times.
When did Tama County, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Tama County, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Tama County, Iowa?
Tama County, Iowa has a population of 16,868 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Tama County, Iowa?
Median household income in Tama County, Iowa is $70,781 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Tama County, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Tama County, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "Florida Surge" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.