Hanson County is a Republican stronghold. About 14% of voters here vote Democratic and 86% Republican.
About 69% of adults in Hanson County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Hanson County, ~10% vote Democratic, ~59% Republican, and ~31% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Hanson County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Hanson County is the most Republican-leaning.
Hanson County runs about 43 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Why Hanson County leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per county to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Hanson County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 77% of households in Hanson County are family households, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 67%. Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. Non-Hispanic white share in Hanson County is about 92%, well above similar-sized counties (around 71%).
Preventive-care access and voter turnout
Places with strong routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Hanson County, SD sits in the top tenth 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 Hanson County looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Hanson County 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%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 89% of households in Hanson County own their home, in the top fraction of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Davison County, SD R+43
- McCook County, SD R+54
- Hutchinson County, SD R+65
- Miner County, SD R+52
- Sanborn County, SD R+59
- Douglas County, SD R+68
- Aurora County, SD R+59
- Turner County, SD R+53
- Lake County, SD R+38
- Bon Homme County, SD R+58
Counties with Similar Populations
- Baylor County, TX R+66
- Roger Mills County, OK R+83
- Kimball County, NE R+68
- Costilla County, CO D+19
- Osborne County, KS R+74
- Aleutians East Borough, AK D+6
- Baca County, CO R+69
- Petersburg Census Area, AK R+4
- Foster County, ND R+50
- Webster County, NE R+69
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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.