• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Big Picture>
  3. voting demographics>

The 10 states where the electorate looks the most like the population

Our Staff
October 23, 2020
people U.S. map
SiberianArt/Getty Images

There are some notable disparities between the share of Americans considered reliable voters and the actual demographic makeup of the country.

The people most likely to turn up at the polls every election are generally older, richer, whiter and a tiny bit more female than the population on the whole. But a new analysis from the personal financial services website WalletHub reveals that the electorate in some states comes much closer than others to reflecting the gender, racial and age makeups of the places where they live.

Source: WalletHub

WalletHub compared the 2016 presidential electorate in each state to its overall population to generate its Voter Representation Index. A perfect score of 100 would mean the voter demographics and the population demographics were identical. None were. But deep blue Maryland came closest, scoring a 95 — trailed closely by neighboring and almost as reliably Democratic Virginia, followed by predictably Republican Indiana and battleground Pennsylvania.

The report also analyzed how voters nationally compared to the overall population four years ago. The match was 87 percent overall, because the 2016 electorate was 2 percentage points more female (at 54 percent), 4 points more white (at 73 percent), 3 points older (24 percent had passed their 65th birthday), 7 points more married (59 percent) and 5 points more wealthy (37 percent had income above $100 ,000).

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The scores of the 50 states were all bunched pretty close together, to be sure. Solidly red South Dakota has the biggest difference between its people and its voters, but still there was a 79 percent match.The 10 states with the closest correlation:

  1. Maryland (95)
  2. Virginia (94)
  3. Indiana (93)
  4. Pennsylvania (93)
  5. Minnesota (91)
  6. Oregon (91)
  7. Massachusetts (91)
  8. Nevada (91)
  9. Wyoming (91)
  10. New Jersey (90)

The 10 states with the least correlation:

      1. Idaho (85)
      2. Nebraska (85)
      3. Hawaii (85)
      4. Kentucky (85)
      5. Illinois (84)
      6. Washington (84)
      7. Florida (84)
      8. Tennessee (84)
      9. Kansas (82)
      10. South Dakota (79)
      From Your Site Articles
      • Alternative plan for fixing our presidential election mess - The Fulcrum ›
      • Election Dissection: CIRCLE report says young voters may have big ... ›
      • 10 states that are representative of the nation as a whole - The ... ›
      Related Articles Around the Web
      • How Once-Reliable Voting Blocs Have Changed : NPR ›
      • Who Votes, Who Doesn't, and Why | Pew Research Center ›
      • Is the electoral college fair? - Washington Post ›
      voting demographics

      Want to write
      for The Fulcrum?

      If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

      Submit
      Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
      Follow
      Contributors

      Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

      Layla Zaidane

      Two technology balancing acts

      Dave Anderson

      Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

      Jeremy Gruber

      Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

      Kevin Johnson

      Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

      Christine Todd Whitman

      Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

      Henry Santana
      Jerren Chang
      latest News

      Political brain fog

      Lawrence Goldstone
      10h

      Sounding the alarm over TDS

      Lynn Schmidt
      10h

      Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

      Our Staff
      10h

      Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

      Debilyn Molineaux
      22 March

      The power of libraries to connect communities

      Annie Caplan
      Cristy Moran
      22 March

      Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

      Our Staff
      22 March
      Videos

      Video: The hidden stories in the U.S. Census

      Our Staff

      Video: We asked conservatives at CPAC what woke means

      Our Staff

      Video: DeSantis, 18 states to push back against Biden ESG agenda

      Our Staff

      Video: A conversation with Tiahna Pantovich

      Our Staff

      Video: What would happen if Trump was a third-party candidate in 2024?

      Our Staff

      Video: How the Federal Reserve is the shadow branch of the government

      Our Staff
      Podcasts

      Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

      Our Staff
      10h

      Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

      Our Staff
      22 March

      Podcast: Inequitable ability: Electoral and civic challenges faced by those with disabilities

      Our Staff
      21 March

      Podcast: A tricky dance

      Our Staff
      14 March
      Recommended
      Political brain fog

      Political brain fog

      Big Picture
      Sounding the alarm over TDS

      Sounding the alarm over TDS

      Threats to democracy
      Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

      Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

      Podcasts
      Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

      Taking flight into difficult but meaningful conversations

      Big Picture
      The power of libraries to connect communities

      The power of libraries to connect communities

      Big Picture
      Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

      Podcast: Break out of your bubble: Talk to a stranger

      Podcasts