Muscle Shoals leans heavily Republican by roughly 42 points: about 29% of voters vote Democratic and 71% Republican.
About 73% of adults in Muscle Shoals typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Muscle Shoals, ~21% vote Democratic, ~52% Republican, and ~27% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Muscle Shoals compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Muscle Shoals leans more Republican than 10 of 64 neighbors.
Muscle Shoals runs about 11 points more Republican than Alabama as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Muscle Shoals. The northeast side is the most Republican-leaning (R+52) and the north side is the least Republican-leaning (R+30), a spread of about 22 points.
Why Muscle Shoals 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 Muscle Shoals, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Muscle Shoals votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 66%, far above the Alabama average of 19%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here.
Paved land cover and Democratic lean
Places with extensive paved surfaces tend to lean Democratic; Muscle Shoals, AL sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. Paved ground does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban and built-up a place is.
Why turnout in Muscle Shoals looks the way it does
Turnout in Muscle Shoals sits close to the national pattern. Routine healthcare access, homeownership, education, and food security all land near their national averages here. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Steenson Hollow, AL R+30
- Lakeview Highlands, AL R+35
- Wilson Lake Shores, AL R+41
- Sheffield, AL R+19
- Colonial Heights, AL R+71
- Nitrate City, AL R+49
- Tuscumbia, AL R+52
- Spring Valley, AL R+75
- Leighton, AL R+48
- Florence, AL R+34
Cities with Similar Populations
- Hunters Creek, FL D+6
- Fulton, MO R+31
- Long Beach, MS R+39
- Fairfax Station, VA D+20
- Ontario, OR R+34
- Godfrey, IL R+18
- Lake Forest, IL D+16
- Brookfield, IL D+23
- Braselton, GA R+39
- Lawrenceburg, TN R+62
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.