Saline County leans heavily Republican by roughly 38 points: about 31% of voters vote Democratic and 69% Republican.
About 73% of adults in Saline County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Saline County, ~23% vote Democratic, ~50% Republican, and ~27% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Saline County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Saline County leans more Republican than 1 of 11 neighbors.
Saline County runs about 17 points more Republican than Nebraska as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Saline County. The northwest side is the most Republican-leaning (R+60) and the northeast side is the least Republican-leaning (R+19), a spread of about 41 points.
Why Saline County leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per county to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Saline County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 71% of households in Saline County are family households, above 84% of counties.
Developed land, local retail density, and voter turnout
Places that combine a rural land-use pattern and dense local retail within a mile tend to turn out at a higher rate, as Saline County, NE does.
Why turnout in Saline County looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Saline County is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Seward County, NE R+52
- Lancaster County, NE D+7
- Gage County, NE R+46
- Jefferson County, NE R+51
- Fillmore County, NE R+57
- York County, NE R+52
- Thayer County, NE R+61
- Johnson County, NE R+51
- Butler County, NE R+62
- Saunders County, NE R+46
Counties with Similar Populations
- Hardy County, WV R+61
- Nantucket County, MA D+23
- Knott County, KY R+67
- Butler County, IA R+43
- Clay County, AL R+65
- Bourbon County, KS R+48
- Smith County, MS R+59
- Choctaw County, OK R+54
- Gogebic County, MI R+14
- Franklin County, ID R+77
All Local Stats
Home Services
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Nebraska 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.