Iowa State Senate District 42

State Legislative District Profile (Upper Chamber)

Overview

District ID
ia-sd-042
State
Iowa
Chamber
Upper chamber (state senate)
District Code
042
Land Area
1,196.7 sq mi
Water Area
8.09 sq mi

Boundary

Boundary of Iowa State Senate District 42

Boundary as GeoJSON

Source: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line state legislative district boundaries.

Counties

CountyOverlapShare of district landShare of county land
Benton County601.08 sq mi50.2%83.9%
Linn County595.72 sq mi49.8%83.1%

Showing all 2 counties

Places

PlaceOverlapShare of district landShare of place land
Vinton city4.88 sq mi0.4%100.0%
Mount Vernon city3.50 sq mi0.3%93.6%
Belle Plaine city3.18 sq mi0.3%100.0%
Fairfax city3.00 sq mi0.3%82.7%
Center Point city2.54 sq mi0.2%93.1%
Lisbon city2.13 sq mi0.2%100.0%
Urbana city2.04 sq mi0.2%100.0%
Ely city1.64 sq mi0.1%97.1%
Bertram city1.53 sq mi0.1%99.8%
Springville city1.46 sq mi0.1%60.5%
Palo city1.10 sq mi0.1%92.2%
Atkins city1.10 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Central City city1.07 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Walford city1.04 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Van Horne city0.93 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Shellsburg city0.79 sq mi0.1%99.4%
Alburnett city0.76 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Walker city0.75 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Coggon city0.65 sq mi0.1%91.6%
Blairstown city0.50 sq mi<0.1%100.0%
Prairieburg city0.45 sq mi<0.1%100.0%
Keystone city0.45 sq mi<0.1%100.0%
Norway city0.43 sq mi<0.1%99.6%
Watkins CDP0.41 sq mi<0.1%100.0%
Garrison city0.31 sq mi<0.1%99.9%

Showing top 25 of 27 places

Overlapping Congressional Districts

Congressional districtPopulation in bothShare of this district's populationShare of the congressional district's populationShare of this district's land
IA District 263,363100.0%7.9%100.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 blocks and 2025 block equivalency files (119th Congress, 2024 state legislative plans).

Voters

Registered Voters
46,708
Active Voters
41,354 (88.5%)

Party Registration

PartyVotersShare
Democratic11,53224.7%
Republican17,02736.5%
Unaffiliated17,76438.0%
Other parties3850.8%
No party recorded00.0%

Turnout by Cycle

CycleGeneralDemocratic PrimaryRepublican Primary
2025–202610,001 (21.4%)0 (0.0%)0 (0.0%)
2023–202438,644 (82.7%)599 (1.3%)2,554 (5.5%)
2021–202230,200 (64.7%)2,994 (6.4%)3,854 (8.3%)
2019–202036,487 (78.1%)5,336 (11.4%)4,608 (9.9%)
2017–201828,382 (60.8%)3,085 (6.6%)1,262 (2.7%)
2015–201631,339 (67.1%)1,799 (3.9%)1,772 (3.8%)
2013–201422,784 (48.8%)1,502 (3.2%)2,427 (5.2%)
2011–201228,765 (61.6%)1,153 (2.5%)1,366 (2.9%)

Turnout counts today's registered voters with a counted ballot in the cycle's elections (the odd and even year), as a share of today's registered voters. Voters who have since left the rolls are not counted.

Browse the voter list for this district (premium access; sign-in required)

Source: Civitech voter file snapshot as of 01/20/2026. These are registered voters, separate from the Census population figures. Counts under 10 are suppressed and shown as "<10".

Demographics

Total Population
63,608 (± 439)
Median Age
42.8
Median Household Income
$96,266 (± $2,247)
High School Graduate or Higher (age 25+)
96.1%
Bachelor's Degree or Higher (age 25+)
30.8%

Population by Age

GroupPeopleShare
Under 1814,97923.5%
18 to 6436,50157.4%
65 and over12,12819.1%

Population by Race and Hispanic Origin

GroupPeopleShare
Hispanic or Latino (any race)9451.5%
White, not Hispanic60,21194.7%
Black, not Hispanic3660.6%
Asian, not Hispanic4050.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native, not Hispanic390.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, not Hispanic50.0%
Some other race, not Hispanic1080.2%
Two or more races, not Hispanic1,5292.4%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 ACS 5-year estimates (tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B03002, B15003, B19013) for this state legislative district. Estimates are survey-based; ± figures are 90% margins of error.

Citizen Voting Age Population

Total Citizen Population
63,184
Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP)
48,249

Citizen Population by Race/Ethnicity

GroupCitizensShare
Non-Hispanic62,33498.7%
Hispanic8511.3%
White60,60495.9%
Black2900.5%
Asian3420.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native380.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander70.0%
Two or More Races1050.2%

Citizen Voting Age Population by Race/Ethnicity

GroupCVAPShare
Non-Hispanic47,70498.9%
Hispanic5431.1%
White46,67996.7%
Black3500.7%
Asian4180.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native2020.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander00.0%
Two or More Races580.1%

Source: Redistricting Data Hub / U.S. Census Bureau CVAP Special Tabulation (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).