Brightwood leans heavily Democratic by roughly 34 points: about 67% of voters vote Democratic and 33% Republican.
About 34% of adults in Brightwood typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Brightwood, ~23% vote Democratic, ~11% Republican, and ~66% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Brightwood compares
Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Brightwood leans more Democratic than 3 of 13 neighbors.
Brightwood runs about 9 points more Democratic than Massachusetts as a whole.
Why Brightwood 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 Brightwood, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 64% of adults in Brightwood have never been married, well above similar-sized neighborhoods (around 41%).
Preventive-care access and voter turnout
Places with limited routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Brightwood, Springfield, MA sits in the bottom 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 Brightwood looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Brightwood 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 36%, about 36 points below the Massachusetts average of 72%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 88% of households in Brightwood rent, compared to around 65% in nearby neighborhoods. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 57% of adults in Brightwood report food insecurity, in the top fraction of neighborhoods. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- Memorial Square, Springfield, MA D+42
- Metro Center, Springfield, MA D+44
- Liberty Heights, Springfield, MA D+34
- South End Springfield, Springfield, MA D+40
- McKnight, Springfield, MA D+55
- Maple High-Six Corners, Springfield, MA D+44
- Old Hill, Springfield, MA D+55
- Bay, Springfield, MA D+56
- Upper Hill, Springfield, MA D+65
- East Springfield, Springfield, MA D+19
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- Rock Creek, Cypress, TX R+34
- Spivak, Edgewater, CO D+40
- East Terrell Hills, San Antonio, TX D+14
- Tireman, Detroit, MI D+76
- Peacock, Oceanside, CA D+10
- Rain Tree, Charlotte, NC D+3
- Olympic West, Longview, WA R+5
- Hunter Industrial Park, Riverside, CA D+19
- Westhill, Mobile, AL R+7
- Molholm Two Creeks, Edgewater, CO D+40
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.