Salem leans heavily Republican by roughly 48 points: about 26% of voters vote Democratic and 74% Republican.
About 76% of adults in Salem typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Salem, ~20% vote Democratic, ~56% Republican, and ~24% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Salem compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Salem leans more Republican than 45 of 61 neighbors.
Salem runs about 36 points more Republican than Iowa as a whole.
Why Salem 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 Salem, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 83% of households in Salem are family households, about 17 points above the U.S. average of 67%.
High-school completion, uninsured rate, and voter turnout
Places that combine high-school-completion-heavy adults and a low uninsured rate tend to turn out at a higher rate, as Salem, IA does.
Why turnout in Salem looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Salem 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%. Homeowners vote more often than renters, and about 90% of households in Salem own their home, above 80% of cities. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 97% of adults in Salem have completed high school, above 91% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Oakland Mills, IA R+46
- Houghton, IA R+47
- Hillsboro, IA R+51
- St. Paul, IA R+46
- Westwood, IA R+47
- Mount Pleasant, IA R+24
- Mount Hamill, IA R+46
- Rome, IA R+48
- New London, IA R+35
- Glasgow, IA R+49
Cities with Similar Populations
- Manchester, CA D+51
- Steptoe, NV R+64
- Portland, ND R+38
- Inchelium, WA D+12
- Stringtown, VA R+29
- Lazy Mountain, AK R+35
- Rossburg, OH R+75
- Lyndon, IL R+46
- Kennedyville, MD R+19
- Maxwell, IN R+50
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Iowa 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.