Ball Square is a Democratic stronghold. About 85% of voters here vote Democratic and 15% Republican.
About 64% of adults in Ball Square typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Ball Square, ~55% vote Democratic, ~10% Republican, and ~35% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Ball Square compares
Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Ball Square leans more Democratic than 29 of 49 neighbors.
Ball Square runs about 45 points more Democratic than Massachusetts as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by block within Ball Square. The west side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+73) and the northeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+61), a spread of about 12 points.
Why Ball Square leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per neighborhood to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Ball Square, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Dense areas vote Democratic. More than 99% of residents in Ball Square live in densely developed areas, about 64 points above the U.S. average of 36%. High college attainment predicts Democratic voting, and Ball Square sits in the top quarter (about 75%, above 94% of neighborhoods). A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 66% of adults in Ball Square have never been married, above 96% of neighborhoods.
Preventive-care access and voter turnout
Places with strong routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Ball Square, Somerville, MA sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. Dental visits do not drive turnout; the rate reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access, which line up with who votes.
Why turnout in Ball Square looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Ball Square is in the top quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 76%, about 16 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- Tufts, Somerville, MA D+71
- Spring Hill, Somerville, MA D+75
- West Somerville, Somerville, MA D+63
- Avon Hill, Cambridge, MA D+79
- North Cambridge, Cambridge, MA D+71
- Winter Hill, Somerville, MA D+65
- Neighborhood Nine, Cambridge, MA D+78
- Ten Hills, Somerville, MA D+52
- Aggasiz-Harvard, Cambridge, MA D+78
- Union Square, Somerville, MA D+75
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- Bowdoin Apartments, Malden, MA D+37
- West End, Cincinnati, OH D+75
- Northside, Fort Wayne, IN D+17
- West Minnehaha, Vancouver, WA D+18
- North Main, Greenville, SC D+5
- West Memorial, Katy, TX R+16
- The Avenues, York, PA D+30
- Milton Upper Mills, Milton, MA D+67
- Heights, Little Rock, AR D+19
- North East, Pasadena, CA D+24
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Elections, distributed by the Voting and Election Science Team. Demographic inputs come from the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 5-year estimates and the 2020 Decennial Census). Health and environmental inputs come from the CDC (PLACES and the Environmental Justice Index). Land cover comes from the USGS and EPA. Election-day and lead-up weather come from PRISM 4km daily grids and the NOAA Global Historical Climatology Network. Mail-voting and election-administration patterns come from the MIT Election Lab's Survey of the Performance of American Elections. Block-group crime detail comes from CrimeGrade. Internet data and modeling support provided by ISPreports.org.
Modeling and analysis by the BestNeighborhood data science team. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.