Bristol leans Democratic by roughly 20 points: about 60% of voters vote Democratic and 40% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Vermont did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the numbers above come from demographic and health features rather than local ground truth.
About 77% of adults in Bristol typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Bristol, ~46% vote Democratic, ~31% Republican, and ~23% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Bristol compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Bristol leans more Democratic than 51 of 80 neighbors.
Bristol runs about 12 points more Republican than Vermont as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Bristol. The southeast side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+25) and the northeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+11), a spread of about 14 points.
Why Bristol 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 Bristol, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 43% of adults in Bristol hold a bachelor's degree, about 15 points above the U.S. average of 28%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 32% of adults in Bristol have never been married, above 80% of cities.
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Bristol, VT sits in the top quarter nationally on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.
Why turnout in Bristol looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Bristol 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 71%, about 11 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 97% of adults in Bristol have completed high school, above 88% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- East Monkton, VT D+12
- New Haven, VT D+13
- Lincoln, VT D+25
- Starksboro, VT D+9
- South Lincoln, VT D+25
- Monkton Boro, VT D+12
- Weybridge, VT D+23
- Ferrisburg, VT D+24
- Vergennes, VT D+20
Cities with Similar Populations
- Tupper Lake, NY R+12
- Vermont Heights, FL R+40
- East Petersburg, PA R+6
- Ottawa Hills, OH D+24
- Tulia, TX R+43
- Kimberly, AL R+67
- Laurel Bay, SC R+17
- Edgartown, MA D+33
- Tontitown, AR R+27
- New Gloucester, ME R+17
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division, 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. VT did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the figures here come from extrapolation across demographic, health, and land-use features rather than local ground truth. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.