Fort Madison, IA, Iowa: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+28%. Republican peak: R+34 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+28MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 32,8932024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,3822024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+32 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+34 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Fort Madison, 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 | 5,659 | 10,152 | 16,198 | ||
| R | 6,541 | 9,773 | 16,734 | ||
| R | 6,215 | 8,803 | 16,347 | ||
| D | 10,714 | 7,785 | 18,911 | ||
| D | 9,821 | 7,062 | 17,224 | ||
| D | 10,152 | 7,472 | 17,858 | ||
| D | 9,632 | 6,339 | 16,572 | ||
| D | 8,831 | 4,932 | 15,662 | ||
| D | 9,366 | 4,777 | 17,152 | ||
| D | 10,911 | 6,228 | 17,290 | ||
| D | 8,912 | 8,756 | 17,809 | ||
| R | 8,204 | 8,793 | 18,265 | ||
| D | 9,017 | 8,195 | 17,465 | ||
| R | 7,510 | 9,748 | 17,618 | ||
| R | 8,076 | 8,883 | 18,036 | ||
| D | 12,244 | 6,321 | 18,582 | ||
| R | 9,936 | 10,765 | 20,701 | ||
| R | 8,226 | 11,571 | 19,829 | ||
| R | 8,625 | 12,289 | 20,969 | ||
| D | 9,201 | 7,801 | 17,212 | ||
| R | 8,252 | 9,406 | 17,736 | ||
| R | 9,117 | 10,616 | 19,766 | ||
| D | 9,630 | 8,955 | 19,317 | ||
| D | 10,624 | 7,084 | 17,902 | ||
| R | 7,785 | 11,645 | 19,455 | ||
| R | 4,903 | 9,999 | 18,377 | ||
| R | 5,177 | 10,763 | 16,323 | ||
| R | 3,993 | 4,395 | 8,587 | ||
| D | 3,891 | 2,016 | 8,520 | ||
| D | 4,706 | 4,262 | 9,144 | ||
| R | 3,848 | 4,612 | 8,749 | ||
| D | 5,182 | 4,486 | 9,778 | ||
| D | 5,153 | 4,847 | 10,162 | ||
| D | 4,956 | 3,971 | 9,137 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
33.0%
Irish
16.2%
English
11.4%
American
4.6%
Italian
1.4%
French
1.4%
Scottish
1.4%
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: 43.6 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
$62,382
Fort Madison, IA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Fort Madison, IA$62,382
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.2%
Working age (18–64)12.0%
Seniors (65+)11.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.4%
speak English only
Spanish1.6%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 57.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Fort Madison, IA sits in the Corn Belt. For most of the post-war period it was a Democratic metro — its working-class profile gave it the same political habits as much of its region. That identity has shifted decisively in the last twenty years.
The Democratic margin in Fort Madison, IA peaked at thirty-two points in 1964. By 2016 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-eight points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $62,382 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 Madison, IA, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/22800/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Fort Madison, IA, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Fort Madison, IA, Iowa voted Republican by 27.7 points (R+28), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,198 votes cast, 5,659 went Democratic and 10,152 went Republican.
What is Fort Madison, IA, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Fort Madison, 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 18 times, Republican 16 times, and other 0 times.
When did Fort Madison, IA, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Fort Madison, IA, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Fort Madison, IA, Iowa?
Fort Madison, IA, Iowa has a population of 32,893 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Fort Madison, IA, Iowa?
Median household income in Fort Madison, IA, Iowa is $62,382 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Fort Madison, IA, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Fort Madison, IA, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 16 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.