Kingston leans heavily Democratic by roughly 40 points: about 70% of voters vote Democratic and 30% 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 50% of adults in Kingston typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Kingston, ~35% vote Democratic, ~15% Republican, and ~50% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Kingston compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Kingston leans more Democratic than 59 of 60 neighbors.
Kingston runs about 26 points more Democratic than Rhode Island as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Kingston. The north side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+49) and the south side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+17), a spread of about 32 points.
Why Kingston 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 Kingston, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 72% of adults in Kingston hold a bachelor's degree, about 44 points above the U.S. average of 28%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 77% of adults in Kingston have never been married, in the top fraction of cities.
Homeownership and voter turnout
Places with renter-heavy households tend to turn out at a lower rate; Kingston, RI sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Kingston looks the way it does
Areas with low high-school completion turn out at lower rates. About 98% of adults in Kingston have completed high school, about 8 points above the U.S. average of 90%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 32% of households in Kingston rent, above 86% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Wakefield-Peacedale, RI D+33
- West Kingston, RI D+3
- Wakefield, RI D+12
- Saunderstown, RI D+13
- Tuckertown, RI D+12
- Slocum, RI Even
- South Kingstown, RI D+15
- Narragansett, RI D+19
- Narragansett Pier, RI D+29
- Kenyon, RI R+4
Cities with Similar Populations
- Virginia, MN Even
- West Yarmouth, MA D+11
- Patterson, NY R+15
- Huntingburg, IN R+39
- Denison, IA R+22
- Dalhart, TX R+50
- Perryton, TX R+55
- Chester, NJ R+7
- Columbus, NJ R+9
- Reading, OH R+8
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.