Menlo Park is a Democratic stronghold. About 82% of voters here vote Democratic and 18% Republican.
About 70% of adults in Menlo Park typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Menlo Park, ~57% vote Democratic, ~13% Republican, and ~30% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Menlo Park compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Menlo Park leans more Democratic than 70 of 71 neighbors.
Menlo Park runs about 44 points more Democratic than California as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Menlo Park. The east side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+72) and the northeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+55), a spread of about 17 points.
Why Menlo Park 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 Menlo Park, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 73% of adults in Menlo Park hold a bachelor's degree, about 45 points above the U.S. average of 28%. Dense areas vote Democratic, and Menlo Park sits in the top fifth on density (about 96%, above 98% of cities). A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 32% of adults in Menlo Park have never been married, above 81% of cities.
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Menlo Park, CA 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 Menlo Park looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Menlo Park 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 73%, about 13 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Atherton, CA D+46
- North Fair Oaks, CA D+49
- East Palo Alto, CA D+49
- Stanford, CA D+64
- Palo Alto, CA D+52
- Redwood City, CA D+53
- Woodside, CA D+46
- Portola Valley, CA D+58
- San Carlos, CA D+57
- Los Altos Hills, CA D+23
Cities with Similar Populations
- Parkersburg, WV R+35
- Trenton, MI R+7
- Haines City, FL Even
- Romeoville, IL D+15
- Levittown, NY R+21
- Perrysburg, OH R+7
- East Stroudsburg, PA D+12
- Monrovia, CA D+27
- Orange, TX R+44
- Catonsville, MD D+34
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.