Study Finds Partisan Travelers Prefer Like-Minded Destinations

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A new study analyzing travel patterns between 471 U.S. counties found that people from counties with particularly strong political leanings, whether liberal or conservative, are more likely to visit destinations with similar political views. The research, published in PLOS One, suggests that partisan identities may influence not only where people live but also where they travel on a daily basis.

Why it matters

This study provides insight into how political polarization can manifest in everyday behaviors, beyond just residential choices. Understanding these travel patterns could help inform efforts to reduce political divisions and encourage more cross-ideological interactions.

The details

The researchers used anonymized phone tracking data from over 40 million phones collected between November 2018 and 2019, as well as county-level voting records for the 2020 presidential election. They found that while political leanings generally did not relate to the political leanings of other counties visited, people from strongly partisan counties were more likely to visit like-minded destinations. For example, residents of the strongly liberal New York County made significantly more trips to other liberal-leaning counties, while those from the weakly liberal Jefferson County traveled more often to conservative areas.

• The data was collected between November 2018 and 2019.
• The 2020 presidential election voting records were used in the analysis.

What they’re saying

What’s next

The researchers suggest that more research will be needed to confirm the findings and build upon them, such as by including more phone tracking data from rural regions. This study could also help inform efforts to reduce political polarization.