Houghton leans heavily Republican by roughly 46 points: about 27% of voters vote Democratic and 73% Republican.
About 97% of adults in Houghton typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Houghton, ~26% vote Democratic, ~71% Republican, and ~3% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Houghton compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Houghton leans more Republican than 28 of 54 neighbors.
Houghton runs about 34 points more Republican than Iowa as a whole.
Why Houghton 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 Houghton, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Car-dependent areas vote Republican. About 90% of residents in Houghton drive to work alone, about 16 points above the U.S. average of 74%. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 78% of households in Houghton are family households, above 86% of cities.
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with high colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Houghton, IA sits in the top quarter nationally on this measure. Cancer screening does not drive turnout; it reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access.
Why turnout in Houghton looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Houghton 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 95% of households in Houghton own their home, about 20 points above the U.S. average of 75%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Mount Hamill, IA R+46
- Salem, IA R+49
- St. Paul, IA R+46
- Hillsboro, IA R+51
- Primrose, IA R+47
- Franklin, IA R+45
- Oakland Mills, IA R+46
- West Point, IA R+41
- Donnellson, IA R+41
- Bonaparte, IA R+55
Cities with Similar Populations
- Zelma, IN R+65
- Owensville, AR R+64
- Pebworth, KY R+70
- Peabody, IN R+55
- Northville, SD R+60
- Prescott, PA R+49
- Buffalo, ND R+44
- Myrtle, MN R+41
- Narcissa, OK R+65
- Chapman, AL R+50
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Iowa 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.