Rail Road Flat leans Republican by roughly 30 points: about 35% of voters vote Democratic and 65% Republican.
About 58% of adults in Rail Road Flat typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Rail Road Flat, ~20% vote Democratic, ~37% Republican, and ~43% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Rail Road Flat compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Rail Road Flat leans more Republican than 25 of 46 neighbors.
Rail Road Flat runs about 50 points more Republican than California as a whole. California leans Democratic overall, while Rail Road Flat is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Why Rail Road Flat 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 Rail Road Flat, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with low college attainment vote Republican. About 10% of adults in Rail Road Flat hold a bachelor's degree, about 25 points below the California average of 35%. Rural areas vote Republican, and Rail Road Flat sits in the bottom quarter on density (about 4%, below 84% of cities). Rail Road Flat runs against the grain of California, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Rail Road Flat, CA sits in the bottom quarter nationally on this measure. Paved ground does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban and built-up a place is.
Why turnout in Rail Road Flat looks the way it does
Crowded housing lines up with lower turnout. About 17% of homes in Rail Road Flat have more than one occupant per room, in the top fraction of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Glencoe, CA R+27
- Wilseyville, CA R+26
- West Point, CA R+25
- Mountain Ranch, CA R+18
- Sheep Ranch, CA R+18
- Mokelumne Hill, CA R+32
- Pioneer, CA R+28
- Pine Grove, CA R+29
- Kit Carson, CA R+28
- Avery, CA R+8
Cities with Similar Populations
- Ackerly, TX R+80
- Beals, ME R+27
- Forest Beach, WA D+4
- Alamo, IN R+61
- Wickett, TX R+73
- Winfred, SD R+52
- Fords Creek, MS R+75
- Brook Forest, CO D+15
- Windom, WV R+67
- Dedham, IA R+54
All Local Stats
Home Services
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.