Upper South Providence, Providence, RI Political Map | Democrat & Republican Areas in Upper South Providence

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

Upper South Providence leans heavily Democratic by roughly 46 points: about 73% of voters vote Democratic and 27% 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 34% of adults in Upper South Providence typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Upper South Providence, ~25% vote Democratic, ~9% Republican, and ~66% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.

How Upper South Providence compares

Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Upper South Providence leans more Democratic than 29 of 38 neighbors.

Upper South Providence runs about 32 points more Democratic than Rhode Island as a whole.

Politics vary noticeably by block within Upper South Providence. The northeast side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+51) and the southeast side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+40), a spread of about 11 points.

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

Areas with many never-married adults vote Democratic. About 57% of adults in Upper South Providence have never been married, well above similar-sized neighborhoods (around 40%).

Preventive-care access and voter turnout

Places with limited routine preventive-care access tend to turn out at a lower rate; Upper South Providence, Providence, RI sits in the bottom quarter 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 South Providence looks the way it does

Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Upper South Providence 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 46%, about 24 points below the Rhode Island average of 70%. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 69% of households in Upper South Providence rent, about 44 points above the U.S. average of 25%. High food insecurity lines up with lower turnout, and about 45% of adults in Upper South Providence report food insecurity, above 96% 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 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.