Reading, PA Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Reading

By the BestNeighborhood data science team. Last updated May 2026.

Reading leans slightly Democratic by roughly 12 points: about 56% of voters vote Democratic and 44% Republican.

 

About 61% of adults in Reading typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Reading, ~34% vote Democratic, ~27% Republican, and ~39% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Reading compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Reading leans more Democratic than 147 of 153 neighbors.

Reading runs about 14 points more Democratic than Pennsylvania as a whole. Pennsylvania is roughly evenly split, and Reading sits clearly on the Democratic side.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Reading. The east side runs the most Democratic (D+24) and the southeast side runs the most Republican (R+6), a spread of about 30 points.

Why Reading 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 Reading, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Dense areas vote Democratic. About 82% of residents in Reading live in densely developed areas, about 46 points above the U.S. average of 36%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 39% of adults in Reading have never been married, above 93% of cities. Reading runs against the grain of Pennsylvania, a Democratic-leaning outlier in a roughly evenly split state.

Paved land cover and Democratic lean

Places with extensive paved surfaces tend to lean Democratic; Reading, PA sits in the top tenth 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 Reading looks the way it does

Renters vote less often than owners. About 40% of households in Reading rent, about 15 points above the U.S. average of 25%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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Sources and methodology

Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau 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.