Wayne County is a Republican stronghold. About 18% of voters here vote Democratic and 82% Republican.
About 63% of adults in Wayne County typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Wayne County, ~11% vote Democratic, ~51% Republican, and ~38% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Wayne County compares
Wayne County sits in a sparsely populated area with few comparable counties nearby.
Wayne County runs about 42 points more Republican than Utah as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Wayne County. The northwest side is the most Republican-leaning (R+70) and the east side is the least Republican-leaning (R+59), a spread of about 11 points.
Why Wayne 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 Wayne County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 79% of households in Wayne County are family households, about 13 points above the U.S. average of 67%. Rural areas with a high white share vote Republican. Non-Hispanic white share in Wayne County is about 91%, about 19 points above the U.S. average of 72%.
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Wayne County, UT sits in the bottom tenth nationally on this measure. Paved ground does not change how people vote; it mostly reflects how urban and built-up a place is.
Why turnout in Wayne County looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Wayne 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 67%, about 7 points above the U.S. average of 60%. High high-school completion lines up with higher turnout, and about 97% of adults in Wayne County have completed high school, in the top fraction of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Piute County, UT R+78
- Sevier County, UT R+70
- Garfield County, UT R+63
- Emery County, UT R+73
- Beaver County, UT R+69
- Sanpete County, UT R+63
- Millard County, UT R+69
- Carbon County, UT R+56
- Iron County, UT R+53
- Juab County, UT R+71
Counties with Similar Populations
- Harmon County, OK R+53
- Elk County, KS R+68
- Hettinger County, ND R+69
- Potter County, SD R+62
- Niobrara County, WY R+90
- Rich County, UT R+66
- Kiowa County, KS R+71
- Hamilton County, KS R+71
- Frontier County, NE R+74
- Schleicher County, TX R+44
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office, 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.