Van Buren County, Iowa: Florida Surge county. In 2024, voted R+55%. Republican peak: R+55 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+55MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Florida SurgeAkashic typology
- Population
- 7,2412024 5-year
- Median household income
- $61,1612024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 95.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+20 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+55 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Todd County, MN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Van Buren CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Van Buren 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 | −8.3% |
| 1896 | −8.7% |
| 1900 | −14.5% |
| 1904 | −26.2% |
| 1908 | −10.2% |
| 1912 | +0.3% |
| 1916 | −6.8% |
| 1920 | −43.4% |
| 1924 | −40.4% |
| 1928 | −33.4% |
| 1932 | +13.6% |
| 1936 | −11.4% |
| 1940 | −25.8% |
| 1944 | −21.4% |
| 1948 | −16.7% |
| 1952 | −41.8% |
| 1956 | −27.6% |
| 1960 | −28.0% |
| 1964 | +20.1% |
| 1968 | −24.9% |
| 1972 | −27.9% |
| 1976 | +0.1% |
| 1980 | −22.6% |
| 1984 | −14.1% |
| 1988 | −2.4% |
| 1992 | +1.2% |
| 1996 | +2.3% |
| 2000 | −16.2% |
| 2004 | −16.8% |
| 2008 | −12.2% |
| 2012 | −18.5% |
| 2016 | −46.8% |
| 2020 | −52.3% |
| 2024 | −55.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 778 | 2,785 | 3,625 | ||
| R | 875 | 2,859 | 3,791 | ||
| R | 845 | 2,527 | 3,595 | ||
| R | 1,402 | 2,064 | 3,569 | ||
| R | 1,546 | 1,986 | 3,608 | ||
| R | 1,568 | 2,211 | 3,836 | ||
| R | 1,440 | 2,016 | 3,561 | ||
| D | 1,536 | 1,460 | 3,375 | ||
| D | 1,464 | 1,418 | 3,710 | ||
| R | 1,612 | 1,692 | 3,334 | ||
| R | 1,606 | 2,138 | 3,769 | ||
| R | 1,311 | 2,142 | 3,680 | ||
| D | 1,807 | 1,804 | 3,671 | ||
| R | 1,268 | 2,272 | 3,596 | ||
| R | 1,331 | 2,294 | 3,869 | ||
| D | 2,555 | 1,700 | 4,257 | ||
| R | 1,760 | 3,129 | 4,894 | ||
| R | 1,833 | 3,233 | 5,068 | ||
| R | 1,577 | 3,870 | 5,480 | ||
| R | 1,917 | 2,702 | 4,688 | ||
| R | 1,997 | 3,095 | 5,122 | ||
| R | 2,416 | 4,108 | 6,550 | ||
| R | 2,804 | 3,535 | 6,422 | ||
| D | 3,135 | 2,375 | 5,581 | ||
| R | 1,944 | 3,904 | 5,875 | ||
| R | 1,209 | 3,623 | 5,970 | ||
| R | 1,682 | 4,321 | 6,086 | ||
| R | 1,735 | 1,994 | 3,797 | ||
| D | 1,495 | 1,483 | 3,768 | ||
| R | 1,730 | 2,133 | 3,960 | ||
| R | 1,416 | 2,469 | 4,014 | ||
| R | 1,893 | 2,547 | 4,516 | ||
| R | 2,076 | 2,478 | 4,628 | ||
| R | 1,789 | 2,125 | 4,030 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
33.2%
English
13.5%
Irish
11.1%
American
9.4%
French
2.4%
Scottish
2.1%
Polish
1.2%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 44.7 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
$61,161
Van Buren County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Van Buren County$61,161
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Van Buren 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
15.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.4%
Working age (18–64)14.9%
Seniors (65+)13.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
84.9%
speak English only
Other Indo-European14.7%
Spanish0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Van Buren sits along the Missouri border in Iowa's southeastern corner, where a sparse, agriculture-dependent population has shifted toward overwhelming Republican margins over the past decade, hitting R+55.4 in the 2024 presidential race.
The Democratic margin here once reached twenty points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-five points.
A population of 7,241, a 96% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $61,161 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Todd County and Cottonwood 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.
Van Buren County, Iowa. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/19177/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Van Buren County, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Van Buren County, Iowa voted Republican by 55.4 points (R+55), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,625 votes cast, 778 went Democratic and 2,785 went Republican.
What is Van Buren County, Iowa's political typology?
Akashic places Van Buren 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 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Van Buren County, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Van Buren County, Iowa voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Van Buren County, Iowa?
Van Buren County, Iowa has a population of 7,241 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Van Buren County, Iowa?
Median household income in Van Buren County, Iowa is $61,161 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Van Buren County, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Van Buren County, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Florida Surge" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.