Muscatine, IA, Iowa: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+15%. Republican peak: R+50 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+15MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 42,5592024 5-year
- Median household income
- $69,3962024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 80.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 18.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+27 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Muscatine, 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 | 8,212 | 11,152 | 19,752 | ||
| R | 9,372 | 10,823 | 20,671 | ||
| R | 8,368 | 9,584 | 19,623 | ||
| D | 11,323 | 8,168 | 19,865 | ||
| D | 10,920 | 7,929 | 19,119 | ||
| D | 9,542 | 9,020 | 18,717 | ||
| D | 8,058 | 7,483 | 16,076 | ||
| D | 7,674 | 5,858 | 15,386 | ||
| D | 7,089 | 6,087 | 16,864 | ||
| D | 7,059 | 6,904 | 14,102 | ||
| R | 5,986 | 9,069 | 15,168 | ||
| R | 5,597 | 7,829 | 15,145 | ||
| R | 6,567 | 7,697 | 14,496 | ||
| R | 4,917 | 8,436 | 13,642 | ||
| R | 4,726 | 7,361 | 12,874 | ||
| D | 8,020 | 5,547 | 13,577 | ||
| R | 6,135 | 8,555 | 14,698 | ||
| R | 5,718 | 8,552 | 14,298 | ||
| R | 5,772 | 9,361 | 15,196 | ||
| R | 5,466 | 6,003 | 11,615 | ||
| R | 4,801 | 7,104 | 11,963 | ||
| R | 5,825 | 8,543 | 14,421 | ||
| D | 6,593 | 6,332 | 13,313 | ||
| D | 6,423 | 6,160 | 12,917 | ||
| R | 4,055 | 8,604 | 12,757 | ||
| R | 1,963 | 7,731 | 11,917 | ||
| R | 2,293 | 8,115 | 11,544 | ||
| R | 2,694 | 3,929 | 7,242 | ||
| O | 2,679 | 789 | 7,110 | ||
| R | 3,038 | 3,525 | 7,131 | ||
| R | 2,555 | 4,036 | 7,076 | ||
| R | 3,021 | 3,905 | 7,110 | ||
| R | 2,863 | 3,627 | 6,592 | ||
| D | 2,964 | 2,726 | 5,874 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.4%
English
9.7%
Irish
8.7%
American
6.5%
French
1.7%
Polish
1.4%
Scottish
1.0%
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: 39.6 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
$69,396
Muscatine, IA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Muscatine, IA$69,396
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.7%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.3%
Working age (18–64)12.3%
Seniors (65+)10.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
85.9%
speak English only
Spanish12.0%
Other Indo-European1.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 67.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Muscatine's economy anchors on manufacturing and agriculture along the Mississippi, producing a working-class electorate that has trended toward Republican candidates in recent cycles while retaining competitive down-ballot races.
The Democratic margin in Muscatine, IA peaked at twenty-seven points in 1912. By 2016 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $69,396 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% 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.
Muscatine, IA, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/34700/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Muscatine, IA, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Muscatine, IA, Iowa voted Republican by 14.9 points (R+15), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 19,752 votes cast, 8,212 went Democratic and 11,152 went Republican.
What is Muscatine, IA, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Muscatine, 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 11 times, Republican 22 times, and other 1 times.
When did Muscatine, IA, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Muscatine, IA, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Muscatine, IA, Iowa?
Muscatine, IA, Iowa has a population of 42,559 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Muscatine, IA, Iowa?
Median household income in Muscatine, IA, Iowa is $69,396 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Muscatine, IA, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Muscatine, IA, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.