Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+51%. Republican peak: R+51 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+51MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 22,0212024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,9402024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+26 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Oskaloosa, 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 | 2,577 | 8,207 | 10,946 | ||
| R | 2,894 | 8,297 | 11,404 | ||
| R | 2,619 | 7,432 | 10,723 | ||
| R | 4,213 | 6,448 | 10,883 | ||
| R | 4,464 | 6,271 | 10,932 | ||
| R | 3,790 | 6,858 | 10,728 | ||
| R | 3,370 | 5,971 | 9,543 | ||
| R | 3,737 | 4,473 | 8,941 | ||
| R | 3,714 | 4,953 | 10,247 | ||
| R | 4,451 | 4,798 | 9,320 | ||
| R | 4,107 | 6,086 | 10,293 | ||
| R | 3,968 | 5,650 | 10,363 | ||
| R | 4,838 | 5,267 | 10,251 | ||
| R | 3,382 | 6,374 | 9,988 | ||
| R | 3,721 | 5,670 | 9,970 | ||
| D | 6,396 | 3,787 | 10,205 | ||
| R | 3,746 | 7,129 | 10,901 | ||
| R | 3,965 | 6,864 | 11,034 | ||
| R | 3,745 | 7,369 | 11,523 | ||
| D | 4,327 | 4,238 | 9,030 | ||
| R | 4,652 | 5,123 | 10,072 | ||
| R | 5,757 | 6,123 | 11,977 | ||
| D | 6,094 | 5,270 | 11,726 | ||
| D | 5,586 | 4,655 | 10,713 | ||
| R | 3,200 | 7,368 | 10,665 | ||
| R | 1,673 | 5,810 | 10,543 | ||
| R | 3,339 | 6,739 | 10,440 | ||
| D | 3,151 | 3,143 | 6,529 | ||
| D | 2,576 | 1,682 | 6,448 | ||
| R | 3,035 | 3,326 | 6,856 | ||
| R | 2,287 | 4,091 | 6,867 | ||
| R | 3,596 | 4,480 | 8,312 | ||
| R | 3,974 | 4,256 | 8,396 | ||
| R | 2,428 | 3,340 | 6,976 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.5%
English
15.7%
Irish
11.7%
American
6.2%
Scottish
1.5%
French
1.4%
Polish
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: 39.0 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
$70,940
Oskaloosa, IA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Oskaloosa, IA$70,940
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.7%
Working age (18–64)12.2%
Seniors (65+)9.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.5%
speak English only
Spanish1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.1%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Oskaloosa, 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 Oskaloosa, IA peaked at twenty-six points in 1964. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $70,940 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.
Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/36820/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa voted Republican by 51.4 points (R+51), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,946 votes cast, 2,577 went Democratic and 8,207 went Republican.
What is Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Oskaloosa, 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 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa?
Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa has a population of 22,021 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa?
Median household income in Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa is $70,940 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Oskaloosa, IA, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.