Hill City, SD Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Hill City

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

Hill City leans heavily Republican by roughly 42 points: about 29% of voters vote Democratic and 71% Republican.

 

About 79% of adults in Hill City typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Hill City, ~23% vote Democratic, ~56% Republican, and ~21% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Hill City compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Hill City leans more Republican than 4 of 21 neighbors.

Hill City runs about 12 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Hill City. The southwest side is the most Republican-leaning (R+52) and the southeast side is the least Republican-leaning (R+39), a spread of about 13 points.

Why Hill City 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 Hill City, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 76% of households in Hill City are family households, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 67%.

Preventive-care access and voter turnout

Places with strong routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Hill City, 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 Hill City looks the way it does

Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Hill City 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%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 99% of adults in Hill City have completed high school, above 98% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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.