Pawtucket leans Democratic by roughly 26 points: about 63% of voters vote Democratic and 37% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Rhode Island did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the numbers above come from demographic and health features rather than local ground truth.
About 51% of adults in Pawtucket typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Pawtucket, ~32% vote Democratic, ~19% Republican, and ~49% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Pawtucket compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Pawtucket leans more Democratic than 121 of 129 neighbors.
Pawtucket runs about 12 points more Democratic than Rhode Island as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Pawtucket. The southwest side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+41) and the east side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+9), a spread of about 31 points.
Why Pawtucket 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 Pawtucket, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 43% of adults in Pawtucket have never been married, modestly above similar-sized cities (around 37%).
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Pawtucket, RI sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.
Why turnout in Pawtucket looks the way it does
Renters vote less often than owners. About 48% of households in Pawtucket rent, about 23 points above the U.S. average of 25%. Limited routine healthcare access lines up with lower turnout, and Pawtucket sits in the bottom quarter on routine-care measures. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 24% of adults in Pawtucket report food insecurity, above 89% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Central Falls, RI D+23
- Rumford, RI D+16
- Valley Falls, RI Even
- Lincoln, RI D+5
- Seekonk, MA Even
- Providence, RI D+11
- East Providence, RI D+12
- North Providence, RI D+14
- Attleboro, MA D+7
- Cumberland, RI D+7
Cities with Similar Populations
- Jupiter, FL R+20
- Battle Creek, MI Even
- Auburn, AL D+3
- Southfield, MI D+70
- Springfield, OR D+8
- Pittsburg, CA D+38
- Scranton, PA D+14
- Caldwell, ID R+37
- Charleston, WV R+5
- Warwick, RI D+8
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Rhode Island 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. RI did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the figures here come from extrapolation across demographic, health, and land-use features rather than local ground truth. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.