Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+31%. Republican peak: R+42 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+31MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 36,8862024 5-year
- Median household income
- $68,9752024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+33 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Fort Dodge, IA, IAOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,641 | 10,850 | 16,748 | ||
| R | 6,613 | 10,938 | 17,822 | ||
| R | 6,305 | 10,056 | 17,593 | ||
| D | 9,537 | 8,469 | 18,292 | ||
| D | 9,917 | 8,337 | 18,554 | ||
| D | 9,561 | 8,959 | 18,631 | ||
| D | 8,479 | 8,172 | 17,048 | ||
| D | 8,380 | 6,275 | 16,328 | ||
| D | 8,562 | 6,992 | 18,921 | ||
| D | 10,267 | 6,926 | 17,393 | ||
| D | 9,930 | 9,619 | 19,802 | ||
| R | 9,001 | 10,438 | 21,030 | ||
| D | 10,543 | 9,068 | 19,995 | ||
| R | 8,358 | 11,133 | 19,893 | ||
| R | 8,572 | 9,349 | 19,097 | ||
| D | 13,005 | 6,576 | 19,635 | ||
| R | 10,680 | 10,741 | 21,435 | ||
| R | 9,901 | 11,097 | 21,049 | ||
| R | 8,681 | 12,336 | 21,385 | ||
| D | 9,508 | 6,951 | 17,066 | ||
| D | 9,477 | 6,935 | 16,468 | ||
| D | 10,731 | 7,583 | 18,366 | ||
| D | 9,885 | 6,494 | 17,174 | ||
| D | 8,957 | 5,243 | 15,117 | ||
| R | 6,497 | 8,525 | 15,119 | ||
| R | 2,076 | 6,641 | 14,438 | ||
| R | 2,804 | 8,312 | 12,988 | ||
| R | 3,196 | 3,917 | 7,321 | ||
| O | 2,370 | 2,123 | 7,127 | ||
| R | 2,374 | 3,658 | 6,472 | ||
| R | 1,714 | 4,358 | 6,517 | ||
| R | 2,266 | 4,221 | 6,667 | ||
| R | 2,557 | 3,691 | 6,355 | ||
| R | 2,159 | 2,551 | 5,088 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
27.2%
Irish
11.5%
English
9.7%
American
3.9%
Italian
2.6%
Scottish
1.5%
French
1.2%
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.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 39.7 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.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$68,975
Fort Dodge, IA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Fort Dodge, IA$68,975
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.9%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.5%
Working age (18–64)12.4%
Seniors (65+)11.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.1%
speak English only
Spanish3.0%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 50.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Fort Dodge anchors a mid-size metro where meatpacking, gypsum mining, and healthcare employment create a blue-collar electorate that has swung both parties' way in recent presidential cycles by margins worth tracking.
The Democratic margin in Fort Dodge, IA peaked at thirty-three points in 1964. By 2016 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $68,975 sits well below state and national norms, and 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/22700/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa voted Republican by 31.1 points (R+31), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,748 votes cast, 5,641 went Democratic and 10,850 went Republican.
What is Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 15 times, Republican 18 times, and other 1 times.
When did Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa?
Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa has a population of 36,886 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa?
Median household income in Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa is $68,975 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Fort Dodge, IA, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.