Durham leans heavily Democratic by roughly 46 points: about 73% of voters vote Democratic and 27% Republican. These figures are model estimates: New Hampshire 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 71% of adults in Durham typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Durham, ~52% vote Democratic, ~19% Republican, and ~29% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Durham compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Durham is the most Democratic-leaning.
Durham runs about 44 points more Democratic than New Hampshire as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Durham. The northwest side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+57) and the southwest side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+18), a spread of about 39 points.
Why Durham 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 Durham, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 65% of adults in Durham hold a bachelor's degree, about 37 points above the U.S. average of 28%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 69% of adults in Durham have never been married, in the top fraction of cities.
High-school completion and voter turnout
Places with high-school-completion-heavy adults tend to turn out at a higher rate; Durham, NH sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Durham looks the way it does
Areas with high high-school completion turn out at higher rates. About 99% of adults in Durham have completed high school, about 9 points above the U.S. average of 90%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Madbury, NH D+12
- Lee, NH Even
- Newmarket, NH D+24
- Newington, NH D+21
- Dover, NH D+22
- Eliot, ME Even
- Newfields, NH D+13
- Barrington, NH R+17
- Greenland, NH D+16
- Rollinsford, NH D+4
Cities with Similar Populations
- Columbia, KY R+59
- Bogart, GA R+32
- Port Jervis, NY R+17
- Hidalgo, TX R+4
- Monroe, WI R+8
- Taylorsville, KY R+54
- Lake Tapps, WA R+9
- Shorewood, WI D+63
- Plano, IL R+3
- Myerstown, PA R+48
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from New Hampshire 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. NH 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.