Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+40%. Republican peak: R+62 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+40MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 17,9902024 5-year
- Median household income
- $75,4322024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+19 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+62 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Spirit Lake, 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 | 3,297 | 7,775 | 11,234 | ||
| R | 3,661 | 7,438 | 11,244 | ||
| R | 3,056 | 6,753 | 10,457 | ||
| R | 4,095 | 5,912 | 10,159 | ||
| R | 4,625 | 5,162 | 9,906 | ||
| R | 4,140 | 5,337 | 9,553 | ||
| R | 3,660 | 4,225 | 8,121 | ||
| D | 3,562 | 3,129 | 7,646 | ||
| R | 3,106 | 3,196 | 8,304 | ||
| R | 3,342 | 3,678 | 7,101 | ||
| R | 3,025 | 4,064 | 7,170 | ||
| R | 2,620 | 4,028 | 7,442 | ||
| R | 3,074 | 3,795 | 7,010 | ||
| R | 2,373 | 3,739 | 6,381 | ||
| R | 2,286 | 3,472 | 6,151 | ||
| D | 3,490 | 2,443 | 5,938 | ||
| R | 2,696 | 3,575 | 6,273 | ||
| R | 2,498 | 3,641 | 6,157 | ||
| R | 1,748 | 4,401 | 6,194 | ||
| D | 2,324 | 2,304 | 4,766 | ||
| D | 2,473 | 2,133 | 4,627 | ||
| D | 2,985 | 2,736 | 5,742 | ||
| D | 3,399 | 2,322 | 5,791 | ||
| D | 2,500 | 2,074 | 4,706 | ||
| R | 1,251 | 3,045 | 4,315 | ||
| R | 435 | 2,967 | 4,483 | ||
| R | 760 | 3,298 | 4,101 | ||
| R | 893 | 1,249 | 2,182 | ||
| O | 502 | 457 | 1,862 | ||
| R | 503 | 1,109 | 1,666 | ||
| R | 312 | 1,320 | 1,692 | ||
| R | 445 | 1,352 | 1,848 | ||
| R | 517 | 1,131 | 1,679 | ||
| R | 443 | 801 | 1,307 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
41.0%
Irish
11.1%
English
8.3%
American
4.1%
Scottish
1.9%
French
1.8%
Italian
1.2%
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: 48.7 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
$75,432
Spirit Lake, IA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Spirit Lake, IA$75,432
Iowa$75,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
7.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 187.9%
Working age (18–64)7.7%
Seniors (65+)6.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.3%
speak English only
Spanish1.0%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 32.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Spirit Lake, 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 Spirit Lake, IA peaked at nineteen points in 1936. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $75,432 sits well below state and national norms, and 8% 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.
Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/44020/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa vote in 2024?
In 2024, Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa voted Republican by 39.9 points (R+40), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 11,234 votes cast, 3,297 went Democratic and 7,775 went Republican.
What is Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Spirit Lake, 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 7 times, Republican 26 times, and other 1 times.
When did Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa?
Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa has a population of 17,990 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa?
Median household income in Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa is $75,432 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Spirit Lake, IA, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.