Foster is a Republican stronghold. About 23% of voters here vote Democratic and 77% Republican.
About 60% of adults in Foster typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Foster, ~14% vote Democratic, ~46% Republican, and ~40% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Foster compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Foster leans more Republican than 33 of 151 neighbors.
Foster runs about 13 points more Republican than West Virginia as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Foster. The northwest side is the most Republican-leaning (R+68) and the south side is the least Republican-leaning (R+48), a spread of about 20 points.
Why Foster 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 Foster, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Foster, about 99% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 26 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 10 points below the West Virginia average of 17%. Rural areas vote Republican, and Foster sits in the bottom quarter on density (about 4%, below 85% of cities).
Preventive-care access and voter turnout
Places with limited routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Foster, WV sits in the bottom quarter 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 Foster looks the way it does
High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, mostly because the housing stress common in those areas makes voting harder. Foster sits in the top 15% nationally on a violent-crime measure. See CrimeGrade for more details. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Ridgeview, WV R+67
- Madison, WV R+50
- Peytona, WV R+67
- Danville, WV R+62
- Nellis, WV R+68
- Uneeda, WV R+61
- Costa, WV R+66
- Julian, WV R+69
- Williams Mountain, WV R+67
Cities with Similar Populations
- Bloomdale, OH R+49
- Donahue, IA R+36
- San Felipe Pueblo, NM D+57
- Westmoreland City, PA R+23
- Mason, IL R+68
- Walnut Creek, NC R+32
- St. Marys City, MD R+4
- Hiram, TX R+59
- Appleton City, MO R+57
- Marianna, PA R+47
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from West Virginia 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.