Box Elder is a Republican stronghold. About 21% of voters here vote Democratic and 79% Republican.
About 55% of adults in Box Elder typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Box Elder, ~12% vote Democratic, ~44% Republican, and ~44% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Box Elder compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Box Elder leans more Republican than 14 of 24 neighbors.
Box Elder runs about 30 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Box Elder. The north side is the most Republican-leaning (R+67) and the west side is the least Republican-leaning (R+47), a spread of about 20 points.
Why Box Elder leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per city to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Box Elder, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Box Elder votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 20%, modestly above the South Dakota average of 9%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 76% of households in Box Elder are family households, above 80% of cities.
Homeownership and voter turnout
Places with renter-heavy households tend to turn out at a lower rate; Box Elder, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Box Elder looks the way it does
Renters vote less often than owners. About 37% of households in Box Elder rent, about 12 points above the U.S. average of 25%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Ellsworth Afb, SD R+26
- Ashland Heights, SD R+46
- Rapid Valley, SD R+39
- Sulphur, SD R+35
- Rapid City, SD R+22
- Caputa, SD R+67
- Farmingdale, SD R+66
- Viewfield, SD R+77
- New Underwood, SD R+69
- Black Hawk, SD R+46
Cities with Similar Populations
- Clarendon Hills, IL D+14
- Sykesville, MD R+10
- South Apopka, FL D+36
- Chestertown, MD D+8
- Pecos, TX R+27
- Social Circle, GA R+40
- Leesville, SC R+61
- Graham, TX R+62
- Barnesville, GA R+20
- Cedar Hills, UT R+43
All Local Stats
Home Services
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Dakota 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.