Surfside Beach leans Republican by roughly 28 points: about 36% of voters vote Democratic and 64% Republican.
About 75% of adults in Surfside Beach typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Surfside Beach, ~27% vote Democratic, ~48% Republican, and ~25% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Surfside Beach compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Surfside Beach leans more Republican than 13 of 31 neighbors.
Surfside Beach runs about 11 points more Republican than South Carolina as a whole.
Why Surfside Beach 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 Surfside Beach, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Surfside Beach votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 87%, far above the South Carolina average of 24%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here.
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; Surfside Beach, SC 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 Surfside Beach looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Surfside Beach 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 70%, about 10 points above the U.S. average of 60%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Socastee, SC R+31
- Garden City, SC R+30
- Myrtle Beach, SC R+24
- Murrells Inlet, SC R+37
- Red Hill, SC R+19
- Ocean Forest, SC R+46
- Yauhannah, SC R+15
- North Litchfield Beach, SC R+37
- Bucksville, SC R+57
- Conway, SC R+31
Cities with Similar Populations
- Shoreham, NY R+24
- Wildwood, NJ R+9
- Boulevard Park, WA D+34
- Sunset Beach, NC R+37
- Perry, UT R+51
- Bethpage, TN R+66
- Hamptonville, NC R+63
- Posen, IL D+33
- Ashburn, GA D+13
- Battlement Mesa, CO R+33
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Carolina State Election Commission, 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.