Kent County leans slightly Democratic by roughly 6 points: about 53% of voters vote Democratic and 47% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Rhode Island did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the numbers above come from demographic and health features rather than local ground truth.
About 72% of adults in Kent County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Kent County, ~38% vote Democratic, ~34% Republican, and ~28% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Kent County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Kent County leans more Democratic than 1 of 10 neighbors.
Kent County runs about 9 points more Republican than Rhode Island as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Kent County. The south side runs the most Democratic (D+20) and the southwest side runs the most Republican (R+4), a spread of about 24 points.
Why Kent 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 Kent County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 35% of adults in Kent County hold a bachelor's degree, about 6 points above the U.S. average of 28%.
Population density and Democratic lean
Places with high population density tend to lean Democratic; Kent County, RI sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Kent County looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Kent 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 72%, about 12 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Bristol County, RI D+17
- Providence County, RI D+20
- Newport County, RI D+23
- Washington County, RI D+11
- Bristol County, MA Even
- Norfolk County, MA D+30
- Plymouth County, MA D+11
- Worcester County, MA D+12
- Suffolk County, MA D+53
- Dukes County, MA D+41
Counties with Similar Populations
- Pitt County, NC D+17
- Midland County, TX R+48
- McLean County, IL D+5
- Kootenai County, ID R+46
- Alamance County, NC R+4
- Wyandotte County, KS D+26
- Kenosha County, WI Even
- Kenton County, KY R+14
- Winnebago County, WI R+3
- Davidson County, NC R+36
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Rhode Island Board of 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. RI did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the figures here come from extrapolation across demographic, health, and land-use features rather than local ground truth. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.