Congressional District 1 Congressional District (IA) — Elections 1876–2024

Iowa 1st Congressional District, Iowa: Bellwether district. In 2024, voted R+8%. Republican peak: R+39 in 1920.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: R+8MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: BellwetherAkashic typology
Population: 800,7092024 5-year
Median household income: $74,3492024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 85.0%2024 5-year
Black: 4.1%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 6.0%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+27 in 1964MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+39 in 1920MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

33 counties · 4 D · 29 R

R+60

D+60

One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.

38 presidential elections

Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	R	−8.4%	190,497	226,297	424,671
2020	R	−2.9%	203,395	215,731	428,042
2016	R	−3.0%	177,846	189,874	400,739
2012	D	+13.0%	225,994	173,024	406,785
2008	D	+15.8%	224,751	162,551	393,922
2004	D	+5.9%	200,120	177,751	381,551
2000	D	+6.1%	169,190	149,050	331,349
1996	D	+14.7%	159,808	114,875	306,541
1992	D	+10.8%	157,000	119,999	341,070
1988	D	+12.5%	169,999	132,030	304,776
1984	R	−5.0%	152,196	168,420	323,253
1980	R	−7.3%	129,718	152,954	316,933
1976	D	+0.3%	149,592	148,685	305,181
1972	R	−13.9%	121,772	161,925	289,385
1968	R	−8.3%	115,605	138,082	270,800
1964	D	+27.0%	168,260	96,566	265,298
1960	R	−14.4%	119,963	160,236	280,457
1956	R	−20.6%	107,034	162,700	270,664
1952	R	−27.1%	100,593	176,201	279,013
1948	R	−1.2%	108,762	111,431	224,944
1944	R	−7.8%	107,043	125,377	234,082
1940	R	−8.0%	121,357	142,702	265,157
1936	D	+8.6%	131,122	109,730	248,543
1932	D	+15.6%	131,752	95,494	233,149
1928	R	−24.6%	86,028	142,668	230,014
1924	R	−35.8%	45,134	124,236	221,247
1920	R	−39.0%	56,121	136,778	206,751
1916	R	−9.5%	53,128	64,741	122,074
1912	D	+16.8%	48,996	29,356	116,990
1908	R	−6.2%	54,951	62,581	122,256
1904	R	−18.7%	45,745	68,411	121,109
1900	R	−9.0%	57,300	68,927	129,665
1896	R	−8.1%	57,836	68,216	128,795
1892	D	+4.6%	57,336	52,012	114,531
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

German

29.7%

Irish

14.0%

English

11.0%

American

4.6%

Italian

2.0%

Scottish

1.7%

Polish

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: 39.0 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.8%

85+

1.4%

2.3%

75–84

3.0%

5.2%

65–74

5.5%

6.4%

55–64

6.4%

5.8%

45–54

5.5%

6.5%

35–44

6.1%

6.4%

25–34

6.0%

5.4%

18–24

5.2%

8.5%

5–17

8.0%

2.9%

2.7%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$74,349

Congressional District 1 ranks near the middle of US counties.

Congressional District 1$74,349

Iowa$75,059

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

12.1%

Child poverty is below the national average.

Children under 1812.6%

Working age (18–64)12.1%

Seniors (65+)8.9%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

92.5%

speak English only

Spanish3.2%

Other Indo-European1.8%

Asian & Pacific Islander1.6%

Other languages1.0%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Catholic & Orthodox

12.2%

Mainline Protestant

11.1%

Other Christian

5.5%

Methodist

5.1%

Pentecostal & Holiness

2.0%

Baptist

1.1%

Non-Christian

1.0%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 62.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Iowa 1st Congressional District in the Corn Belt has, for decades, voted very close to the way the country has voted. Its margins are typically narrow, and the candidate who carries Iowa 1st Congressional District more often than not also wins the national popular vote.

The Democratic margin in Iowa 1st Congressional District has rarely exceeded twenty-seven points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded thirty-nine points. 2024 delivered the district to the Republican candidate by eight points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most districts. A 85% non-Hispanic-white share, a 12% poverty rate, and a median household income of $74,349 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page

All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.

Congressional District 1, Iowa — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cd/1901/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Congressional District 1, Iowa vote in 2024?

In 2024, Congressional District 1, Iowa voted Republican by 8.4 points (R+8), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 424,671 votes cast, 190,497 went Democratic and 226,297 went Republican.

What is Congressional District 1, Iowa's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Congressional District 1, Iowa as a "Bellwether" district based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the district has voted Democratic 13 times, Republican 21 times, and other 0 times.

When did Congressional District 1, Iowa last vote Democratic?

The most recent presidential election in which Congressional District 1, Iowa voted Democratic was 2012.

How many people live in Congressional District 1, Iowa?

Congressional District 1, Iowa has a population of 800,709 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Congressional District 1, Iowa?

Median household income in Congressional District 1, Iowa is $74,349 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.

What is the political history of Congressional District 1, Iowa?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Congressional District 1, Iowa from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The district's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Iowa 1st Congressional District delivered R+8 in 2024.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions