The Gulch leans slightly Democratic by roughly 12 points: about 56% of voters vote Democratic and 44% Republican.
About 54% of adults in The Gulch typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in The Gulch, ~30% vote Democratic, ~24% Republican, and ~46% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How The Gulch compares
Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, The Gulch leans more Democratic than 1 of 26 neighbors.
The Gulch runs about 41 points more Democratic than Tennessee as a whole. Tennessee leans Republican overall, while The Gulch is one of the few Democratic-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by block within The Gulch. The east side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+49) and the south side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+9), a spread of about 39 points.
Why The Gulch 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 The Gulch, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 81% of adults in The Gulch hold a bachelor's degree, about 53 points above the U.S. average of 28%. A high never-married share predicts Democratic voting, and about 75% of adults in The Gulch have never been married, in the top fraction of neighborhoods. The Gulch runs against the grain of Tennessee, a Democratic-leaning pocket in a Republican-leaning state.
Walkability and Democratic lean
Places with a highly walkable street grid tend to lean Democratic; The Gulch, Nashville, TN 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 The Gulch looks the way it does
Renters vote less often than owners. About 76% of households in The Gulch rent, about 51 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High-crime urban areas turn out at lower rates, and The Gulch sits in the top 15% on a violent-crime measure. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- Downtown Nashville, Nashville, TN D+50
- Midtown-Nashville, Nashville, TN D+32
- Edgehill, Nashville, TN D+64
- Fisk-Meharry, Nashville, TN D+70
- Vanderbilt-West End, Nashville, TN D+54
- Southside, Nashville, TN D+74
- Germantown, Nashville, TN D+36
- Historic Edgefield, Nashville, TN D+60
- Bellmont Hillsboro, Nashville, TN D+51
- Melrose, Nashville, TN D+41
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- Charles Page, Tulsa, OK R+12
- West Acres, Fargo, ND D+21
- South Park, Des Moines, IA D+14
- Woodlands at Fiore, Buffalo Grove, IL D+26
- South Elmwood, Providence, RI D+28
- Arrowhead Park, Brick, NJ R+33
- West Lake Sammamish, Bellevue, WA D+42
- St Denis, Catonsville, MD D+18
- Centerville Historic District, Centerville, OH R+3
- Campus Commons, Sacramento, CA D+48
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Tennessee Secretary of State, Division 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. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.