Mills County leans heavily Republican by roughly 34 points: about 33% of voters vote Democratic and 67% Republican.
About 96% of adults in Mills County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Mills County, ~32% vote Democratic, ~64% Republican, and ~4% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Mills County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Mills County leans more Republican than 3 of 15 neighbors.
Mills County runs about 20 points more Republican than Iowa as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Mills County. The northeast side is the most Republican-leaning (R+48) and the west side is the least Republican-leaning (R+26), a spread of about 22 points.
Why Mills County leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per county to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Mills County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 71% of households in Mills County are family households, above 82% of counties.
Preventive-care access and voter turnout
Places with strong routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Mills County, IA 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 Mills County looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Mills County 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%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 84% of households in Mills County own their home, above 93% of counties. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 97% of adults in Mills County have completed high school, above 98% of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Pottawattamie County, IA R+18
- Sarpy County, NE R+10
- Cass County, NE R+42
- Fremont County, IA R+47
- Douglas County, NE D+17
- Montgomery County, IA R+41
- Otoe County, NE R+39
- Page County, IA R+39
- Washington County, NE R+42
- Harrison County, IA R+42
Counties with Similar Populations
- Harrison County, OH R+56
- Cannon County, TN R+69
- Jefferson County, FL R+20
- San Juan County, UT R+19
- Wetzel County, WV R+57
- Moultrie County, IL R+54
- Carbon County, WY R+57
- Dent County, MO R+65
- Clay County, AR R+62
- Las Animas County, CO R+13
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Iowa 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.