Upper Falls, Rochester, NY Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Upper Falls

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

Upper Falls is a Democratic stronghold. About 79% of voters here vote Democratic and 21% Republican.

 

About 35% of adults in Upper Falls typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Upper Falls, ~28% vote Democratic, ~7% Republican, and ~65% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Upper Falls compares

Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Upper Falls leans more Democratic than 9 of 28 neighbors.

Upper Falls runs about 46 points more Democratic than New York as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by block within Upper Falls. The northeast side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+70) and the southwest side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+46), a spread of about 24 points.

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

Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 61% of adults in Upper Falls have never been married, well above similar-sized neighborhoods (around 42%).

Preventive-care access and voter turnout

Places with limited routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Upper Falls, Rochester, NY sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Dental visits do not drive turnout; the rate reflects income, insurance, and healthcare access, which line up with who votes.

Why turnout in Upper Falls looks the way it does

Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Upper Falls is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. The dental-visit rate here is about 38%, about 26 points below the New York average of 64%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 83% of households in Upper Falls rent, about 58 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 51% of adults in Upper Falls report food insecurity, in the top fraction of neighborhoods. 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 New York State 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. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.

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