Sioux Falls, SD Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Sioux Falls

By the BestNeighborhood data science team. Last updated May 2026.

Sioux Falls leans slightly Republican by roughly 6 points: about 47% of voters vote Democratic and 53% Republican.

 

About 69% of adults in Sioux Falls typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Sioux Falls, ~33% vote Democratic, ~37% Republican, and ~30% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Sioux Falls compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Sioux Falls is the least Republican-leaning.

Sioux Falls runs about 24 points more Democratic than South Dakota as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Sioux Falls. The north side runs the most Democratic (D+9) and the northwest side runs the most Republican (R+20), a spread of about 29 points.

Why Sioux Falls 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 Sioux Falls, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Sioux Falls votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 87%, far above the South Dakota average of 9%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here.

Population density and Democratic lean

Places with high population density tend to lean Democratic; Sioux Falls, SD sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure.

Why turnout in Sioux Falls looks the way it does

Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Sioux Falls 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 69%, about 9 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.

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.