Iron Belt leans heavily Republican by roughly 32 points: about 34% of voters vote Democratic and 66% Republican.
About 61% of adults in Iron Belt typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Iron Belt, ~21% vote Democratic, ~41% Republican, and ~38% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Iron Belt compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Iron Belt leans more Republican than 24 of 28 neighbors.
Iron Belt runs about 31 points more Republican than Wisconsin as a whole.
Why Iron Belt 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 Iron Belt, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural areas vote Republican. About 3% of residents in Iron Belt live in densely developed areas, about 22 points below the Wisconsin average of 24%.
Developed land and Republican lean
Places with a rural land-use pattern tend to lean Republican; Iron Belt, WI sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Developed land does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.
Why turnout in Iron Belt looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Iron Belt 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 67%, about 7 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Pence, WI R+32
- Montreal, WI R+33
- Gile, WI R+32
- Van Buskirk, WI R+28
- Hurley, WI R+27
- Kimball, WI R+31
- Ironwood, MI R+8
- Gurney, WI R+5
- Saxon, WI Even
Cities with Similar Populations
- St. Augustine, MD R+41
- Nodaway, MO R+64
- Yarbro, AR R+22
- Scotts Crossing, OH R+65
- Mechanicsville, OH R+38
- Essex, MT R+38
- Chandlers Chapel, KY R+63
- Chase, IN R+54
- Friday, TX R+71
- Weston, ME R+45
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Wisconsin Elections Commission, 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.