Yakima County leans slightly Republican by roughly 6 points: about 47% of voters vote Democratic and 53% Republican.
About 58% of adults in Yakima County typically vote, near the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Yakima County, ~27% vote Democratic, ~31% Republican, and ~42% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Yakima County compares
Yakima County runs about 24 points more Republican than Washington as a whole. Washington leans Democratic overall, while Yakima County is one of the few Republican-leaning pockets.
Politics vary noticeably by city within Yakima County. The southwest side runs the most Democratic (D+13) and the northeast side runs the most Republican (R+44), a spread of about 57 points.
Why Yakima 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 Yakima County, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Yakima County votes Republican even though it is densely developed (about 63%, well above the Washington average of 41%). State and regional patterns outweigh the Democratic lean that density usually predicts here. A high family-household share predicts Republican voting, and about 72% of households in Yakima County are family households, above 85% of counties. Yakima County runs against the grain of Washington, a Republican-leaning pocket in a Democratic-leaning state.
High-school completion, developed land, and voter turnout
Places that combine low high-school-completion share and a heavily developed built environment tend to turn out at a lower rate, as Yakima County, WA does.
Why turnout in Yakima County looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Yakima County is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. Renters vote less often than owners, and about 38% of households in Yakima County rent, above 92% of counties. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Counties
- Kittitas County, WA R+8
- Benton County, WA R+21
- Klickitat County, WA R+11
- Grant County, WA R+34
- Franklin County, WA R+16
- Morrow County, OR R+36
- Douglas County, WA R+25
- Chelan County, WA R+12
- Adams County, WA R+31
- Sherman County, OR R+59
Counties with Similar Populations
- Jefferson County, TX D+8
- St. Clair County, IL D+13
- Cumberland County, PA R+9
- Clay County, MO R+7
- McLennan County, TX R+19
- Harford County, MD R+4
- Kalamazoo County, MI D+17
- Forsyth County, GA R+22
- Weber County, UT R+21
- Marin County, CA D+48
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from Washington 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.