Harlan County is a Republican stronghold. About 15% of voters here vote Democratic and 85% Republican.
About 79% of adults in Harlan County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Harlan County, ~12% vote Democratic, ~67% Republican, and ~21% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Harlan County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Harlan County leans more Republican than 5 of 10 neighbors.
Harlan County runs about 49 points more Republican than Nebraska as a whole.
Why Harlan 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 Harlan County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. Harlan County sits in the bottom quarter on density and about 94% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 6 points above the Nebraska average of 88%.
Population density and Republican lean
Places with low population density tend to lean Republican; Harlan County, NE sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Harlan County looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Harlan 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 66%, about 5 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 86% of households in Harlan County own their home, above 97% of counties. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 94% of adults in Harlan County have completed high school, above 85% of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Phelps County, NE R+58
- Franklin County, NE R+69
- Phillips County, KS R+68
- Furnas County, NE R+70
- Kearney County, NE R+59
- Norton County, KS R+71
- Gosper County, NE R+72
- Smith County, KS R+72
- Buffalo County, NE R+36
- Webster County, NE R+69
Counties with Similar Populations
- Lipscomb County, TX R+84
- Fallon County, MT R+71
- Crockett County, TX R+39
- Shackelford County, TX R+74
- Woodson County, KS R+55
- Kinney County, TX R+32
- Nelson County, ND R+43
- Hand County, SD R+62
- Bowman County, ND R+65
- Stanley County, SD R+49
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Nebraska 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.