Pleasant Hill leans slightly Republican by roughly 8 points: about 46% of voters vote Democratic and 54% Republican.
About 84% of adults in Pleasant Hill typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Pleasant Hill, ~39% vote Democratic, ~45% Republican, and ~16% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Pleasant Hill compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Pleasant Hill leans more Republican than 10 of 65 neighbors.
Pleasant Hill runs about 5 points more Democratic than Iowa as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Pleasant Hill. The southeast side is the most split-leaning (R+26) and the west side is the least split-leaning (Even), a spread of about 26 points.
Why Pleasant Hill 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 Pleasant Hill, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Pleasant Hill votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 64%, far above the Iowa average of 16%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 75% of households in Pleasant Hill are family households, above 75% of cities.
High-school completion and voter turnout
Places with high-school-completion-heavy adults tend to turn out at a higher rate; Pleasant Hill, IA sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Pleasant Hill looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Pleasant Hill 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 68%, about 8 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 99% of adults in Pleasant Hill have completed high school, above 98% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Altoona, IA R+5
- Ivy, IA R+32
- Berwick, IA R+27
- Des Moines, IA D+2
- Runnells, IA R+33
- Carlisle, IA R+28
- Bondurant, IA R+18
- Mitchellville, IA R+22
- Scotch Ridge, IA R+31
- Santiago, IA R+27
Cities with Similar Populations
- Selbyville, DE R+19
- Hamburg, PA R+35
- Olney, IL R+43
- Milton, PA R+37
- Jackson, WI R+28
- Brookville, OH R+51
- Hamlet, NC R+7
- Cleves, OH R+48
- Edgerton, WI R+8
- Williston, VT D+22
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Iowa 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.