Palatka is a Republican stronghold. About 23% of voters here vote Democratic and 77% Republican.
About 41% of adults in Palatka typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Palatka, ~10% vote Democratic, ~31% Republican, and ~59% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Palatka compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Palatka leans more Republican than 1 of 58 neighbors.
Palatka runs about 23 points more Republican than Arkansas as a whole.
Why Palatka 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 Palatka, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Palatka, about 94% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 22 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 10% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 8 points below the Arkansas average of 18%. Rural areas vote Republican, and Palatka sits in the bottom quarter on density (about 3%, below 90% of cities).
Preventive-care access and voter turnout
Places with limited routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Palatka, AR sits in the bottom quarter 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 Palatka looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Palatka is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. Crowded housing lines up with lower turnout, and about 5% of homes in Palatka have more than one occupant per room, above 87% of cities. Low high-school completion lines up with lower turnout, and about 84% of adults in Palatka have completed high school, below 83% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Success, AR R+53
- Corning, AR R+58
- Datto, AR R+68
- Purman, MO R+71
- Naylor, MO R+72
- Current View, MO R+74
- Reyno, AR R+72
- Knobel, AR R+66
Cities with Similar Populations
- Shooks, MN R+55
- Cavour, WI R+42
- St. Leo, KS R+69
- Y City, AR R+65
- Paines Hollow, NY R+43
- South Calera, AL R+54
- Galchutt, ND R+47
- Rimby, MO R+70
- Fowler Grove, TN R+72
- Opheim, MT R+64
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Arkansas 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.