Rural Ridge leans slightly Republican by roughly 6 points: about 47% of voters vote Democratic and 53% Republican.
About 74% of adults in Rural Ridge typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Rural Ridge, ~35% vote Democratic, ~39% Republican, and ~26% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Rural Ridge compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Rural Ridge leans more Republican than 84 of 240 neighbors.
Rural Ridge runs about 4 points more Republican than Pennsylvania as a whole.
Why Rural Ridge 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 Rural Ridge, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Rural Ridge votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 21%, modestly below the Pennsylvania average of 33%). 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 Rural Ridge are family households, above 76% of cities.
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with high colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Rural Ridge, PA sits above the national average on this measure. Cancer screening does not drive turnout; it reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access.
Why turnout in Rural Ridge looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Rural Ridge 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 71%, about 11 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 98% of adults in Rural Ridge have completed high school, above 95% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Cheswick, PA R+7
- Russellton, PA R+26
- Creighton, PA R+16
- Harwick, PA R+18
- Indianola, PA Even
- Tarentum, PA R+22
- Arnold, PA D+18
- Springdale, PA R+7
- Brackenridge, PA R+9
- Bairdford, PA R+28
Cities with Similar Populations
- Austin, PA R+67
- Cowanesque, PA R+49
- Dodds, OH R+57
- Monticello, ME R+45
- Dumont, CO D+5
- Velma, MS R+18
- Alta, CA R+36
- Powers Lake, ND R+78
- Ingalls, KS R+79
- Chatham, MI R+15
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.