Riviera Beach leans Republican by roughly 20 points: about 40% of voters vote Democratic and 60% Republican.
About 70% of adults in Riviera Beach typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Riviera Beach, ~28% vote Democratic, ~42% Republican, and ~30% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Riviera Beach compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Riviera Beach leans more Republican than 124 of 139 neighbors.
Riviera Beach runs about 48 points more Republican than Maryland as a whole. Maryland leans Democratic overall, while Riviera Beach is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Riviera Beach. The northeast side is the most Republican-leaning (R+27) and the northwest side is the least Republican-leaning (R+5), a spread of about 22 points.
Why Riviera Beach 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 Riviera Beach, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Riviera Beach votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 70%, well above the Maryland average of 43%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 77% of households in Riviera Beach are family households, above 82% of cities. Riviera Beach runs against the grain of Maryland, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
Population density and Democratic lean
Places with high population density tend to lean Democratic; Riviera Beach, MD sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Riviera Beach looks the way it does
Turnout in Riviera Beach sits close to the national pattern. Routine healthcare access, homeownership, education, and food security all land near their national averages here. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Pasadena, MD R+12
- Curtis Bay, MD D+12
- Lake Shore, MD R+24
- Glen Burnie, MD D+17
- Fort Howard, MD R+27
- Severna Park, MD D+12
- Edgemere, MD R+26
- Ferndale, MD D+10
- Millersville, MD D+13
- Brooklyn Park, MD D+10
Cities with Similar Populations
- Bridgeville, DE R+16
- Kaplan, LA R+59
- Poteet, TX R+20
- Oakdale, NY R+31
- Kronenwetter, WI R+14
- Island Lake, IL R+8
- Montecito, CA D+40
- Hohenwald, TN R+65
- Eldon, MO R+57
- Wilson, PA D+8
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Maryland State 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. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.