Jury Pool Profile
Polk County, Iowa
- County seat
- Des Moines
- Judicial district
- 5th Judicial District Court
- Population (July 2025 estimate)
- 516,546
- Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 503,175.
At a glance
Polk County is a 516,546-person venue. The county population is 76% White and 7% Black (Census race-alone categories). 10% identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race. Median household income is $82,960, $7,337 above the IA state median of $75,623; 40.3% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 14.7% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly Spanish, then other Asian and Pacific Island languages (2.3%), a group the Census does not break out. The largest employment sector is Trade, transportation & utilities, at 20.8% of covered employment, average pay $64,339/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.44%, above the 3.34% state average. The county carried the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 52% to 56% of the vote across the three.
- Population
- 503,175
- Median household income
- $83,576
- Unemployment
- 3.4%
Who sits on a jury?
≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 76% / 7%.
Polk County has a population of 503,175, with a median age of 36.2. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 75.8%; Black residents 7.4%. Independently, 10.4% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The median household earns $82,960; 40.3% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 10.2% live below the federal poverty line.
Economic context
Largest sector in BLS QCEW: Trade, transportation & utilities, 65,567 jobs; Education & health services, 64,266, is within 20% of it.
Trade, transportation & utilities is the largest employment sector at 20.8% of covered employment, followed by Education & health services at 20.4%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.44%, above the Iowa state average.
Political composition
Democratic candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 55%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.
Polk County was carried by the Democratic candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 54.8% in 2024, 56.5% in 2020, 52.4% in 2016.
Languages, households, faith & health
Family households are 61% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 14.7% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).
14.7% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, Russian, Polish, or other Slavic, Arabic. Veterans account for 5.6% of the adult civilian population (21,413 individuals).