Palos Heights leans slightly Republican by roughly 8 points: about 46% of voters vote Democratic and 54% Republican.
About 87% of adults in Palos Heights typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Palos Heights, ~40% vote Democratic, ~47% Republican, and ~13% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Palos Heights compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Palos Heights leans more Republican than 119 of 151 neighbors.
Palos Heights runs about 19 points more Republican than Illinois as a whole. Illinois leans Democratic overall, while Palos Heights is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Why Palos Heights 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 Palos Heights, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Palos Heights votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 85%, far above the Illinois average of 33%). Here an older population outweighs the Democratic lean that density usually predicts. Palos Heights runs against the grain of Illinois, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Population density and Democratic lean
Places with high population density tend to lean Democratic; Palos Heights, IL sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Palos Heights looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Palos Heights 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 71%, about 11 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 91% of households in Palos Heights own their home, compared to around 74% in nearby cities. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 97% of adults in Palos Heights have completed high school, above 88% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Worth, IL R+13
- Crestwood, IL D+5
- Chicago Ridge, IL R+3
- Palos Park, IL R+8
- Palos Hills, IL R+11
- Alsip, IL D+17
- Oak Lawn, IL D+2
- Oak Forest, IL Even
- Midlothian, IL D+11
- Robbins, IL D+77
Cities with Similar Populations
- New Franklin, OH R+30
- Whitmore Lake, MI R+4
- Pelham, NH R+5
- Sierra Vista Southeast, AZ R+36
- Eaton, OH R+50
- Pembroke, NC R+11
- Roselle Park, NJ D+6
- Marina Del Rey, CA D+43
- Lyndhurst, OH D+35
- Grove, OK R+54
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Illinois State Board of 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.