Madison, WI Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Madison

By the BestNeighborhood data science team. Last updated May 2026.

Madison leans heavily Democratic by roughly 36 points: about 68% of voters vote Democratic and 32% Republican.

 

About 85% of adults in the Madison area typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in the Madison area, ~58% vote Democratic, ~27% Republican, and ~15% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Madison compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Madison leans more Democratic than 60 of 66 neighbors.

Madison runs about 38 points more Democratic than Wisconsin as a whole. Wisconsin is roughly evenly split, and Madison sits clearly on the Democratic side.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Madison. The east side runs the most Democratic (D+49) and the northwest side runs the most Republican (R+6), a spread of about 54 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.

Dense areas vote Democratic. About 62% of residents in the Madison area live in densely developed areas, about 25 points above the U.S. average of 36%. High college attainment predicts Democratic voting, and Madison sits in the top quarter (about 50%, above 93% of cities). Madison runs against the grain of Wisconsin, a Democratic-leaning outlier in a roughly evenly split state.

Walkability and Democratic lean

Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Madison, WI sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.

Why turnout in Madison looks the way it does

Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Madison 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 70%, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 96% of adults in the Madison area have completed high school, above 83% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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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.