Smith Hill, Providence, RI Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Smith Hill

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

Smith Hill leans heavily Democratic by roughly 48 points: about 74% of voters vote Democratic and 26% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Rhode Island did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the numbers above come from demographic and health features rather than local ground truth.

 

About 43% of adults in Smith Hill typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Smith Hill, ~32% vote Democratic, ~11% Republican, and ~57% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Smith Hill compares

Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Smith Hill leans more Democratic than 28 of 36 neighbors.

Smith Hill runs about 33 points more Democratic than Rhode Island as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by block within Smith Hill. The south side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+59) and the northeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+33), a spread of about 26 points.

Why Smith Hill leans the way it does

This analysis examined 14,881 data points per neighborhood to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Smith Hill, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 55% of adults in Smith Hill have never been married, modestly above similar-sized neighborhoods (around 46%).

Park access and Democratic lean

Places with heavy park coverage tend to lean Democratic; Smith Hill, Providence, RI sits in the top quarter nationally on this measure. Park access does not change how people vote; it tends to track denser, higher-income areas.

Why turnout in Smith Hill looks the way it does

Renters vote less often than owners. About 75% of households in Smith Hill rent, about 50 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 29% of adults in Smith Hill report food insecurity, above 81% of neighborhoods. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and Smith Hill sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. 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 Rhode Island Board of 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. RI did not have precinct-level voting records available for training, so the figures here come from extrapolation across demographic, health, and land-use features rather than local ground truth. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.

Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.