Shoals is a Republican stronghold. About 23% of voters here vote Democratic and 77% Republican.
About 88% of adults in Shoals typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Shoals, ~20% vote Democratic, ~68% Republican, and ~12% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Shoals compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Shoals leans more Republican than 21 of 90 neighbors.
Shoals runs about 12 points more Republican than West Virginia as a whole.
Why Shoals 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 Shoals, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Car-dependent areas vote Republican. About 89% of residents in Shoals drive to work alone, about 16 points above the U.S. average of 74%.
Renting and voter turnout
Places with homeowner-heavy households tend to turn out at a higher rate; Shoals, WV sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure.
Why turnout in Shoals looks the way it does
Homeowners vote more often than renters. About 93% of households in Shoals own their home, about 12 points above the West Virginia average of 81%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Lavalette, WV R+57
- Kenova, WV R+46
- Ceredo, WV R+40
- Prichard, WV R+66
- Lockwood, KY R+61
- Huntington, WV R+9
- Wayne, WV R+60
- South Point, OH R+46
- Catlettsburg, KY R+53
- Chesapeake, OH R+52
Cities with Similar Populations
- Mount Airy, TN R+69
- Durbin, WV R+60
- Olivet Hill, MD R+29
- Kamey, TX R+60
- Butte Valley, CA R+25
- Snowville, UT R+85
- Ivel, KY R+66
- Messick, IN R+58
- Cass, TX R+70
- Mount Willing, AL D+65
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from West Virginia 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.