Mason City, IA, Iowa: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+14%. Republican peak: R+59 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+14MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 49,9822024 5-year
- Median household income
- $69,6332024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 90.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+25 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Mason City, 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 | 11,463 | 15,342 | 27,307 | ||
| R | 12,537 | 15,180 | 28,219 | ||
| R | 11,392 | 14,074 | 27,442 | ||
| D | 15,666 | 11,872 | 27,996 | ||
| D | 16,972 | 10,987 | 28,397 | ||
| D | 15,658 | 12,755 | 28,639 | ||
| D | 14,393 | 11,056 | 26,166 | ||
| D | 14,236 | 8,711 | 25,239 | ||
| D | 13,424 | 9,632 | 28,741 | ||
| D | 15,297 | 10,846 | 26,347 | ||
| D | 13,833 | 13,199 | 27,216 | ||
| R | 11,084 | 13,436 | 27,138 | ||
| D | 13,588 | 12,568 | 26,621 | ||
| R | 11,494 | 14,420 | 26,329 | ||
| R | 10,369 | 13,044 | 24,730 | ||
| D | 16,092 | 9,661 | 25,794 | ||
| R | 12,347 | 15,570 | 27,937 | ||
| R | 11,827 | 15,149 | 27,008 | ||
| R | 10,429 | 16,522 | 27,012 | ||
| D | 12,167 | 9,718 | 22,319 | ||
| D | 11,717 | 10,397 | 22,184 | ||
| D | 13,846 | 12,162 | 26,067 | ||
| D | 12,670 | 9,563 | 22,778 | ||
| D | 11,392 | 9,007 | 20,613 | ||
| R | 6,218 | 12,503 | 18,888 | ||
| R | 1,525 | 10,750 | 18,882 | ||
| R | 2,818 | 11,694 | 14,960 | ||
| R | 2,855 | 5,019 | 8,076 | ||
| O | 2,144 | 1,688 | 7,184 | ||
| R | 1,969 | 4,423 | 6,596 | ||
| R | 1,143 | 4,767 | 6,193 | ||
| R | 1,795 | 5,075 | 7,049 | ||
| R | 1,992 | 4,744 | 6,868 | ||
| R | 1,823 | 3,406 | 5,499 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
34.5%
Irish
10.3%
English
7.3%
American
4.5%
French
1.9%
Italian
1.4%
Polish
1.1%
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: 44.0 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
$69,633
Mason City, IA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Mason City, IA$69,633
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.5%
Working age (18–64)9.3%
Seniors (65+)9.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.4%
speak English only
Spanish1.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 42.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Mason City anchors a trade-area economy built on manufacturing and agriculture, producing a competitive mix of working-class voters that has swung presidential margins by double digits across recent cycles.
The Democratic margin in Mason City, IA peaked at twenty-five points in 1964. By 2016 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fourteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $69,633 sits well below state and national norms, and 10% 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.
Mason City, IA, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/32380/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Mason City, IA, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Mason City, IA, Iowa voted Republican by 14.2 points (R+14), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 27,307 votes cast, 11,463 went Democratic and 15,342 went Republican.
What is Mason City, IA, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Mason City, 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 Mason City, IA, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Mason City, IA, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Mason City, IA, Iowa?
Mason City, IA, Iowa has a population of 49,982 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Mason City, IA, Iowa?
Median household income in Mason City, IA, Iowa is $69,633 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Mason City, IA, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Mason City, 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.