Rutland is a Republican stronghold. About 24% of voters here vote Democratic and 76% Republican.
About 83% of adults in Rutland typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Rutland, ~20% vote Democratic, ~63% Republican, and ~17% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Rutland compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Rutland leans more Republican than 27 of 30 neighbors.
Rutland runs about 23 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Why Rutland 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 Rutland, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 75% of households in Rutland are family households, about 9 points above the U.S. average of 67%.
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Rutland, SD 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 Rutland looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Rutland 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 73%, about 13 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 93% of households in Rutland own their home, about 18 points above the U.S. average of 75%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Nunda, SD R+52
- Colman, SD R+53
- Wentworth, SD R+45
- Lone Tree, SD R+50
- Madison, SD R+33
- Sunnyview, SD R+35
- Brant Lake, SD R+47
- Sinai, SD R+52
- Ward, SD R+39
- Volga, SD R+46
Cities with Similar Populations
- Chester, ID R+71
- Creede, CO R+6
- Tripoli, WI R+33
- Rocky Mount, GA R+64
- Baskett, KY R+50
- West Liberty, PA R+52
- Chinook, WA R+18
- Veribest, GA R+48
- Cooter, MO R+77
- Fessenden, ND R+63
All Local Stats
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Dakota 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.