Sun Valley, ID Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Sun Valley

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

Sun Valley leans Democratic by roughly 22 points: about 61% of voters vote Democratic and 39% Republican.

 

About 90% of adults in Sun Valley typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Sun Valley, ~55% vote Democratic, ~35% Republican, and ~10% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Sun Valley compares

Among cities within 25 miles, Sun Valley leans more Democratic than 3 of 7 neighbors.

Sun Valley runs about 58 points more Democratic than Idaho as a whole. Idaho leans Republican overall, while Sun Valley is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.

Politics vary noticeably by neighborhood within Sun Valley. The northwest side runs the most Democratic (D+30) and the northeast side runs the most Republican (R+64), a spread of about 93 points.

Why Sun Valley 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 Sun Valley, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.

Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 66% of adults in Sun Valley hold a bachelor's degree, about 38 points above the U.S. average of 28%. Sun Valley runs against the grain of Idaho, a Democratic-leaning pocket in a Republican-leaning state.

Walkability and Democratic lean

Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Sun Valley, ID sits in the top tenth nationally on this measure. A walkable street grid does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban a place is.

Why turnout in Sun Valley looks the way it does

Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Sun Valley 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 76%, about 16 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 96% of adults in Sun Valley have completed high school, above 85% of cities. 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 Idaho 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.