Marshalltown, IA, Iowa: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+16%. Republican peak: R+61 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+16MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 40,1142024 5-year
- Median household income
- $73,3152024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 70.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 24.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+22 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+61 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Marshalltown, 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 | 7,134 | 9,815 | 17,270 | ||
| R | 8,176 | 9,571 | 18,136 | ||
| R | 7,652 | 9,146 | 18,175 | ||
| D | 10,257 | 8,472 | 19,064 | ||
| D | 10,023 | 8,278 | 18,657 | ||
| R | 9,443 | 9,557 | 19,164 | ||
| R | 8,322 | 8,785 | 17,624 | ||
| D | 8,669 | 7,017 | 17,324 | ||
| D | 8,303 | 6,784 | 18,289 | ||
| D | 9,760 | 7,657 | 17,549 | ||
| R | 8,809 | 10,839 | 19,840 | ||
| R | 7,114 | 10,707 | 19,626 | ||
| R | 8,695 | 9,562 | 18,630 | ||
| R | 6,618 | 10,798 | 17,744 | ||
| R | 6,362 | 9,402 | 16,686 | ||
| D | 9,815 | 6,323 | 16,176 | ||
| R | 6,761 | 10,265 | 17,042 | ||
| R | 5,755 | 10,305 | 16,425 | ||
| R | 5,314 | 11,135 | 16,890 | ||
| R | 5,602 | 6,698 | 12,833 | ||
| R | 5,598 | 7,325 | 13,157 | ||
| R | 6,497 | 8,503 | 15,065 | ||
| R | 6,297 | 7,377 | 14,008 | ||
| R | 6,385 | 6,604 | 13,483 | ||
| R | 3,384 | 9,326 | 12,792 | ||
| R | 1,516 | 9,010 | 13,233 | ||
| R | 2,166 | 9,334 | 11,800 | ||
| R | 2,414 | 4,172 | 6,916 | ||
| O | 2,162 | 926 | 6,717 | ||
| R | 1,941 | 3,887 | 6,337 | ||
| R | 1,203 | 4,229 | 6,337 | ||
| R | 2,329 | 4,878 | 7,496 | ||
| R | 2,626 | 4,541 | 7,342 | ||
| R | 2,312 | 3,441 | 6,080 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.2%
Irish
9.5%
English
8.9%
American
4.1%
French
1.4%
Scottish
1.1%
Italian
0.7%
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: 38.5 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.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$73,315
Marshalltown, IA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Marshalltown, IA$73,315
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.9%
Working age (18–64)9.0%
Seniors (65+)10.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
75.2%
speak English only
Spanish19.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.8%
Other languages0.8%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 46.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Marshalltown's large meatpacking workforce has driven one of Iowa's fastest-growing Hispanic populations, creating a community where shifting demographics and union-household voting patterns make precinct-level targeting unusually consequential.
The Democratic margin in Marshalltown, IA peaked at twenty-two points in 1964. By 2016 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $73,315 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% 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.
Marshalltown, IA, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/32260/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Marshalltown, IA, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Marshalltown, IA, Iowa voted Republican by 15.5 points (R+16), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 17,270 votes cast, 7,134 went Democratic and 9,815 went Republican.
What is Marshalltown, IA, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Marshalltown, 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 6 times, Republican 27 times, and other 1 times.
When did Marshalltown, IA, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Marshalltown, IA, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Marshalltown, IA, Iowa?
Marshalltown, IA, Iowa has a population of 40,114 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Marshalltown, IA, Iowa?
Median household income in Marshalltown, IA, Iowa is $73,315 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Marshalltown, IA, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Marshalltown, IA, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.