Van Buren County is a Republican stronghold. About 15% of voters here vote Democratic and 85% Republican.
About 64% of adults in Van Buren County typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Van Buren County, ~10% vote Democratic, ~54% Republican, and ~36% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Van Buren County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Van Buren County leans more Republican than 16 of 17 neighbors.
Van Buren County runs about 41 points more Republican than Tennessee as a whole.
Why Van Buren County leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per county to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Van Buren County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with a high white share and below-average college attainment vote Republican. In Van Buren County, about 94% of residents are non-Hispanic white, about 22 points above the U.S. average of 72%; about 13% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, about 8 points below the Tennessee average of 22%.
Walkability and Republican lean
Places with a low walkability score tend to lean Republican; Van Buren County, TN sits in the bottom 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 Van Buren County looks the way it does
Homeowners vote more often than renters. About 86% of households in Van Buren County own their home, about 9 points above the Tennessee average of 77%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Bledsoe County, TN R+66
- White County, TN R+66
- Warren County, TN R+62
- Sequatchie County, TN R+68
- DeKalb County, TN R+63
- Grundy County, TN R+68
- Cumberland County, TN R+57
- Rhea County, TN R+63
- Putnam County, TN R+43
- Cannon County, TN R+69
Counties with Similar Populations
- Hamlin County, SD R+64
- Gentry County, MO R+63
- Quitman County, MS D+44
- Osceola County, IA R+57
- Pendleton County, WV R+61
- Iron County, WI R+27
- Presidio County, TX D+4
- Menifee County, KY R+64
- Teton County, MT R+60
- Calhoun County, WV R+65
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.