Los Altos leans heavily Democratic by roughly 40 points: about 70% of voters vote Democratic and 30% Republican.
About 79% of adults in Los Altos typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Los Altos, ~55% vote Democratic, ~24% Republican, and ~21% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Los Altos compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Los Altos leans more Democratic than 33 of 65 neighbors.
Los Altos runs about 20 points more Democratic than California as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Los Altos. The west side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+43) and the south side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+31), a spread of about 12 points.
Why Los Altos 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 Los Altos, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 87% of adults in Los Altos hold a bachelor's degree, about 58 points above the U.S. average of 28%. Dense areas vote Democratic, and Los Altos sits in the top fifth on density (about 98%, in the top fraction of cities).
Preventive-care access and voter turnout
Places with strong routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Los Altos, CA 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 Los Altos looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Los Altos 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 79%, about 19 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 99% of adults in Los Altos have completed high school, above 98% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Mountain View, CA D+46
- Los Altos Hills, CA D+23
- Sunnyvale, CA D+36
- Cupertino, CA D+31
- Palo Alto, CA D+52
- Stanford, CA D+64
- Portola Valley, CA D+58
- Santa Clara, CA D+35
- East Palo Alto, CA D+49
- Menlo Park, CA D+64
Cities with Similar Populations
- Midvale, UT D+22
- Wenatchee, WA R+5
- Temple City, CA D+13
- Montclair, CA D+15
- Holyoke, MA D+27
- Blackwood, NJ D+2
- Hinesville, GA D+27
- Atlantic City, NJ D+40
- Shrewsbury, MA D+22
- Menomonee Falls, WI R+7
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from California 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.