Filed by KOSU News in US News.
January 5, 2012

The GOP candidates have left Iowa, but number crunchers are starting to dig deeper into the data behind Tuesday night’s vote. The Washington Post has this post-game analysis tracking where each candidate’s supporters live and how they stack up by age, income, religion and Tea Party affinity.

Our friends at Patchwork Nation and WNYC also broke down the vote by community type. As you can see in the interactive map below, Patchwork characterizes much of the state as “emptying nest” communities that are home to retirees and aging baby boomers. Rick Santorum largely won those areas, with 26 percent of the vote.

Mitt Romney generally did better in the “monied ‘burbs” outside cities like Des Moines, where he led with 28 percent of the vote. He also did well in the diverse, fast-growing “boom towns.” Unsurprisingly, Santorum led in the “evangelical epicenters.”

Newt Gingrich showed strength in the “service worker centers” — midsize and small towns where people work in hotels, stores and restaurants. Ron Paul showed strength in the “campus and careers” areas near college towns.

Mouse over the map to check out the vote breakdown in the rest of the state. [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]