Wolsey is a Republican stronghold. About 15% of voters here vote Democratic and 85% Republican.
About 63% of adults in Wolsey typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Wolsey, ~9% vote Democratic, ~54% Republican, and ~37% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Wolsey compares
Among cities within 25 miles, Wolsey leans more Republican than 13 of 14 neighbors.
Wolsey runs about 41 points more Republican than South Dakota as a whole.
Why Wolsey leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per city to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Wolsey, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Areas with many family households vote Republican. About 75% of households in Wolsey are family households, about 9 points above the U.S. average of 67%.
Paved land cover and Republican lean
Places with little paved surface tend to lean Republican; Wolsey, SD sits in the bottom quarter 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 Wolsey looks the way it does
Areas with strong routine healthcare access turn out at higher rates. Wolsey 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%. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Cities
- Virgil, SD R+67
- Hitchcock, SD R+70
- Huron, SD R+41
- Wessington, SD R+66
- Huron Colony, SD R+68
- Vayland, SD R+68
- Morningside, SD R+54
- Riverside Colony, SD R+62
- Alpena, SD R+56
- Tulare, SD R+57
Cities with Similar Populations
- Kolola Springs, MS R+51
- New Market, IA R+59
- Catawba, WI R+44
- Needham, IN R+48
- Readstown, WI R+18
- Valle, AZ R+9
- Campbellsville, TN R+71
- Rhodesdale, MD R+47
- Swords, GA R+62
- Poneto, IN R+70
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Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from South Dakota Secretary of State, 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.