Shirley Center leans slightly Democratic by roughly 10 points: about 55% of voters vote Democratic and 45% Republican.
About 80% of adults in Shirley Center typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Shirley Center, ~44% vote Democratic, ~36% Republican, and ~20% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Shirley Center compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Shirley Center leans more Democratic than 58 of 124 neighbors.
Shirley Center runs about 16 points more Republican than Massachusetts as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Shirley Center. The east side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+28) and the southwest side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+2), a spread of about 26 points.
Why Shirley Center 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 Shirley Center, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 47% of adults in Shirley Center hold a bachelor's degree, about 18 points above the U.S. average of 28%.
Cancer-screening access and voter turnout
Places with high colon-cancer-screening access tend to turn out at a higher rate; Shirley Center, MA sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. Cancer screening does not drive turnout; it reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access.
Why turnout in Shirley Center looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Shirley Center 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 72%, about 12 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 96% of adults in Shirley Center have completed high school, above 82% of cities. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Shirley, MA D+12
- Townsend Harbor, MA D+7
- Ayer, MA D+20
- Devens, MA D+7
- Lunenburg, MA D+4
- Groton, MA D+23
- Harvard Station, MA D+29
- Townsend, MA R+10
- Pepperell, MA D+2
- Harvard, MA D+28
Cities with Similar Populations
- Blanket, TX R+78
- Buffalo, OK R+78
- Canal Point, FL D+19
- Rolling Hills, WY R+69
- Flintstone, MD R+67
- Everton, AR R+68
- Gerrish, NH R+15
- Kensington, OH R+61
- Brownsville, CA R+23
- Xenia, IL R+73
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, 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.