Madison leans heavily Republican by roughly 48 points: about 26% of voters vote Democratic and 74% Republican.
About 55% of adults in Madison typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Madison, ~14% vote Democratic, ~40% Republican, and ~46% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Madison compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Madison is the least Republican-leaning.
Madison runs about 27 points more Republican than Nebraska as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Madison. The northwest side is the most Republican-leaning (R+72) and the south side is the least Republican-leaning (R+44), a spread of about 28 points.
Why Madison 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 Madison, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 77% of households in Madison are family households, about 11 points above the U.S. average of 67%.
Park access and Republican lean
Places with low park coverage tend to lean Republican; Madison, NE sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Park access does not change how people vote; it tends to track denser, higher-income areas.
Why turnout in Madison looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Madison is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. Crowded housing lines up with lower turnout, and about 7% of homes in Madison have more than one occupant per room, above 94% of cities. Low high-school completion lines up with lower turnout, and about 74% of adults in Madison have completed high school, below 96% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Creston, NE R+80
- Humphrey, NE R+79
- St. Bernard, NE R+75
- Cornlea, NE R+79
- Battle Creek, NE R+68
- Leigh, NE R+70
- Norfolk, NE R+49
- Stanton, NE R+60
- Tarnov, NE R+80
- Lindsay, NE R+82
Cities with Similar Populations
- Colora, MD R+49
- South Fallsburg, NY Even
- Nashotah, WI R+19
- Panhandle, TX R+65
- Danville, OH R+64
- Mount Pleasant Mills, PA R+68
- Campbell, TX R+69
- White Castle, LA D+25
- Gold Hill, NC R+68
- Naples, TX R+53
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Nebraska 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.