Palm Desert, CA Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Palm Desert

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

Palm Desert leans slightly Democratic by roughly 6 points: about 53% of voters vote Democratic and 47% Republican.

 

About 70% of adults in Palm Desert typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Palm Desert, ~37% vote Democratic, ~33% Republican, and ~30% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Palm Desert compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Palm Desert leans more Democratic than 11 of 29 neighbors.

Palm Desert runs about 15 points more Republican than California as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Palm Desert. The west side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+14) and the northeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (Even), a spread of about 13 points.

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

Dense areas vote Democratic. About 96% of residents in Palm Desert live in densely developed areas, about 60 points above the U.S. average of 36%. High college attainment predicts Democratic voting, and Palm Desert sits in the top quarter (about 40%, above 87% of cities).

Population density and Democratic lean

Places with high population density tend to lean Democratic; Palm Desert, CA sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in Palm Desert looks the way it does

Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Palm Desert 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 69%, about 9 points above the U.S. average of 60%. 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 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.