Bear Lake County is a Republican stronghold. About 14% of voters here vote Democratic and 86% Republican.
About 69% of adults in Bear Lake County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Bear Lake County, ~10% vote Democratic, ~59% Republican, and ~31% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Bear Lake County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Bear Lake County leans more Republican than 3 of 6 neighbors.
Bear Lake County runs about 35 points more Republican than Idaho as a whole.
Why Bear Lake County leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per county to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Bear Lake County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. Bear Lake County sits in the bottom quarter on density and about 93% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 11 points above the Idaho average of 83%. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 72% of households in Bear Lake County are family households, above 87% of counties.
Homeownership and voter turnout
Places with homeowner-heavy households tend to turn out at a higher rate; Bear Lake County, ID sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Bear Lake County looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Bear Lake County 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 66%, about 6 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 90% of households in Bear Lake County own their home, in the top fraction of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Caribou County, ID R+73
- Franklin County, ID R+77
- Lincoln County, WY R+66
- Rich County, UT R+66
- Cache County, UT R+32
- Oneida County, ID R+76
- Box Elder County, UT R+56
- Bannock County, ID R+25
- Uinta County, WY R+62
- Sublette County, WY R+58
Counties with Similar Populations
- Ellsworth County, KS R+56
- Saguache County, CO D+5
- Bottineau County, ND R+50
- Spink County, SD R+50
- Henderson County, IL R+41
- Treutlen County, GA R+35
- Moody County, SD R+40
- Randolph County, GA D+3
- Lafayette County, AR R+32
- Norman County, MN R+27
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Idaho Secretary of State, 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.