Cedar Falls, IA Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Cedar Falls

By the BestNeighborhood data science team. Last updated May 2026.

Cedar Falls is a true toss-up. About 52% of voters here vote Democratic and 48% Republican.

 

About 83% of adults in Cedar Falls typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Cedar Falls, ~43% vote Democratic, ~40% Republican, and ~17% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Cedar Falls compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Cedar Falls leans more Democratic than 45 of 46 neighbors.

Cedar Falls runs about 17 points more Democratic than Iowa as a whole. Iowa leans Republican overall, while Cedar Falls is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Cedar Falls. The west side runs the most Democratic (D+11) and the northeast side runs the most Republican (R+21), a spread of about 32 points.

Why Cedar Falls 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 Cedar Falls, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Cedar Falls votes against the grain of Iowa. Iowa leans Republican overall, while Cedar Falls runs about 17 points more Democratic.

Population density and Democratic lean

Places with high population density tend to lean Democratic; Cedar Falls, IA sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in Cedar Falls looks the way it does

Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Cedar Falls 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 70%, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 98% of adults in Cedar Falls have completed high school, above 93% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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Sources and methodology

Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Iowa 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.