Poplar Springs leans heavily Republican by roughly 48 points: about 26% of voters vote Democratic and 74% Republican.
About 82% of adults in Poplar Springs typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Poplar Springs, ~21% vote Democratic, ~60% Republican, and ~19% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Poplar Springs compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Poplar Springs leans more Republican than 33 of 67 neighbors.
Poplar Springs runs about 30 points more Republican than South Carolina as a whole.
Why Poplar Springs 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 Poplar Springs, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Car-dependent areas vote Republican. About 86% of residents in Poplar Springs drive to work alone, about 12 points above the U.S. average of 74%. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 87% of households in Poplar Springs are family households, above 98% of cities.
Homeownership and voter turnout
Places with homeowner-heavy households tend to turn out at a higher rate; Poplar Springs, SC sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Poplar Springs looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Poplar Springs 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 70%, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 96% of households in Poplar Springs own their home, compared to around 72% in nearby cities. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 96% of adults in Poplar Springs have completed high school, above 81% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Reidville, SC R+43
- Moore, SC R+21
- Woodruff, SC R+47
- Duncan, SC R+25
- Crescent, SC R+53
- Startex, SC Even
- Roebuck, SC R+32
- Five Forks, SC R+29
- Wellford, SC R+30
- Arcadia, SC Even
Cities with Similar Populations
- Zion, IA R+50
- Yankton, NE R+73
- Kewa, WA D+13
- Middle Bass, OH R+14
- McCoy, OR R+34
- Stephan, SD R+58
- Shinewell, OK R+75
- Hilger, MT R+62
- Shields, IN R+69
- Grainola, OK R+71
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Carolina State Election Commission, 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.