Washington County leans Democratic by roughly 18 points: about 59% of voters vote Democratic and 41% Republican. These figures are model estimates: Vermont 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 80% of adults in Washington County typically vote, above the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Washington County, ~47% vote Democratic, ~33% Republican, and ~20% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Washington County compares
Among counties within 50 miles, Washington County leans more Democratic than 8 of 10 neighbors.
Washington County runs about 14 points more Republican than Vermont as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Washington County. The north side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+26) and the south side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+3), a spread of about 23 points.
Why Washington 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 Washington County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with high college attainment vote Democratic. About 48% of adults in Washington County hold a bachelor's degree, about 20 points above the U.S. average of 28%.
High-school completion, uninsured rate, and voter turnout
Places that combine high-school-completion-heavy adults and a low uninsured rate tend to turn out at a higher rate, as Washington County, VT does.
Why turnout in Washington County looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Washington County 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%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 96% of adults in Washington County have completed high school, above 98% of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Orange County, VT Even
- Lamoille County, VT D+7
- Caledonia County, VT R+9
- Addison County, VT D+23
- Chittenden County, VT D+35
- Grafton County, NH D+18
- Franklin County, VT R+23
- Orleans County, VT R+17
- Windsor County, VT D+17
- Rutland County, VT R+9
Counties with Similar Populations
- Washington County, OH R+42
- Mercer County, WV R+50
- Bradford County, PA R+49
- Lincoln County, MO R+51
- Van Zandt County, TX R+72
- Otter Tail County, MN R+35
- Crawford County, AR R+54
- Herkimer County, NY R+29
- Pender County, NC R+33
- Lyon County, NV R+42
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Vermont Secretary of State, Elections Division, 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. VT 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.