Bell County is a Republican stronghold. About 19% of voters here vote Democratic and 81% Republican.
About 61% of adults in Bell County typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Bell County, ~12% vote Democratic, ~49% Republican, and ~39% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Bell County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Bell County leans more Republican than 4 of 19 neighbors.
Bell County runs about 31 points more Republican than Kentucky as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Bell County. The west side is the most Republican-leaning (R+76) and the south side is the least Republican-leaning (R+42), a spread of about 35 points.
Why Bell 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 Bell County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Bell County, about 93% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 20 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 16% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 13 points below the U.S. average of 28%.
Homeownership and voter turnout
Places with renter-heavy households tend to turn out at a lower rate; Bell County, KY sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Bell County looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Bell County is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 48%, about 6 points below the Kentucky average of 54%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 41% of households in Bell County rent, about 16 points above the U.S. average of 25%. Low high-school completion lines up with lower turnout, and about 80% of adults in Bell County have completed high school, below 95% of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Claiborne County, TN R+70
- Knox County, KY R+65
- Whitley County, KY R+68
- Hancock County, TN R+77
- Harlan County, KY R+72
- Union County, TN R+70
- Grainger County, TN R+71
- Campbell County, TN R+65
- Lee County, VA R+64
- Clay County, KY R+72
Counties with Similar Populations
- Dawson County, NE R+35
- Fairfax City, VA D+25
- Shelby County, TX R+54
- Hood River County, OR D+24
- Jerome County, ID R+48
- Blaine County, ID D+21
- Lincoln County, KY R+64
- Abbeville County, SC R+39
- Itawamba County, MS R+76
- Anderson County, KY R+50
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Kentucky State Board of 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.