Glad Valley, SD Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Glad Valley

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

Glad Valley leans heavily Democratic by roughly 36 points: about 68% of voters vote Democratic and 32% Republican.

 

About 44% of adults in Glad Valley typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Glad Valley, ~30% vote Democratic, ~14% Republican, and ~56% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Glad Valley compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Glad Valley leans more Democratic than 5 of 7 neighbors.

Glad Valley runs about 66 points more Democratic than South Dakota as a whole. South Dakota leans Republican overall, while Glad Valley is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.

Why Glad Valley 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 Glad Valley, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Glad Valley votes against the grain of South Dakota. South Dakota leans Republican overall, while Glad Valley runs about 66 points more Democratic. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 52% of adults in Glad Valley have never been married, above 98% of cities.

Homeownership and voter turnout

Places with renter-heavy households tend to turn out at a lower rate; Glad Valley, SD sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in Glad Valley looks the way it does

Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Glad Valley 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 46%, about 20 points below the South Dakota average of 66%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 51% of households in Glad Valley rent, about 26 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Glad Valley sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. 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 South Dakota 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.