Work

Educational divide among US voters: a nationwide trend?

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper offers a novel perspective on how personal education and income influence voting preferences in the United States by estimating a Bayesian multilevel model using electoral data from the 2020 Cooperative Election Study. Our findings show that, at the national level, family income is a more significant predictor of vote choice for voters without a bachelor’s degree than for college graduates. However, this pattern is not uniform across states. In richer states, the difference in voting behaviour between college graduates and non-graduates is minimal among the poor, but steadily grows as family income increases. In contrast, in poorer states, this gap remains stable along the income scale.

Source: Spatial Economic Analysis

DOI: 10.1080/17421772.2025.2542786

Authors: Maria Grazia Pittau, Francesco Politano, Roberto Zelli

Institutions: University of Cagliari, Sapienza University of Rome

Language: English

Topic: Electoral Systems and Political Participation

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funder: Sapienza Università di Roma