Memphis, AL Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Memphis

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

Memphis leans slightly Democratic by roughly 10 points: about 55% of voters vote Democratic and 45% Republican.

 

About 62% of adults in Memphis typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Memphis, ~34% vote Democratic, ~28% Republican, and ~38% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Memphis compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Memphis leans more Democratic than 11 of 38 neighbors.

Memphis runs about 40 points more Democratic than Alabama as a whole. Alabama leans Republican overall, while Memphis is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Memphis. The northeast side runs the most Democratic (D+56) and the west side runs the most Republican (R+25), a spread of about 81 points.

Why Memphis 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 Memphis, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Rural, majority-Black areas of the Southern Black Belt vote Democratic, against the usual rural pattern. About 65% of residents in Memphis are Black or African American, about 41 points above the Alabama average of 24%. Memphis runs against the grain of Alabama, a Democratic-leaning pocket in a Republican-leaning state.

Preventive-care access and voter turnout

Places with limited routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Memphis, AL sits in the bottom 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 Memphis looks the way it does

Limited routine healthcare access lines up with lower turnout, and Memphis sits in the bottom quarter on routine-care measures. 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 Alabama 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.