Clinton and Trump Get Most of Their Campaign Funds from These 250 Neighborhoods

Last month, Clinton drew money from the coasts as Trump took from the middle of the country.
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WIRED/Federal Election Commission

During Monday night’s presidential candidate debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump lamented his opponent’s advertising spending. “I also noticed the very nasty commercials that you do on me in so many different ways,” he said to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, “which I don’t do on you. Maybe I’m trying to save the money.” Maybe so. Clinton is, in fact, outspending Trump on advertising. Partially that’s because she has raised a lot more money.

At the end of August, according to the Federal Election Commission, the Trump campaign had raised $75 million, while Clinton’s had taken in $289.3 million.

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Where does the Clinton campaign’s money come from? Silicon Valley, for sure. But put Clinton’s donors on a map and you see a broader picture.

The FEC, which compels political candidates to file regular reports on their fundraising and expenditures, provides data on funding by zip code in addition to tracking donations by employer and state. For the month of August, the 10 zip codes sending the most funding to Clinton are all on the east coast: eight in New York City, one in Washington DC, and one in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Last month we reported that Clinton took in lots of cash from the west side of Manhattan, and this month the trend continues: Clinton drew $364,000 from four West Side neighborhoods in August. Republican nominee Donald Trump, by contrast, raised that amount from his top 32 zip codes.

WIRED mapped the 250 zip codes contributing the most to each candidate. Blue circles represent contributions to Clinton; red circles represent Trump donations. The larger the circle, the larger the amount of money raised. You can zoom in and out to get a better look.

Tableau/WIRED; Data: Federal Election Commission

Some observations: Trump raises less money than Clinton, and mostly from different places. The one exception: Trump’s leading funding source, zip code-wise, is the same area where Trump Tower (and his campaign headquarters) are located (he raised about $31,000 there). But New York City is almost one giant sea of blue. Well, except for the East Side of Manhattan, which sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump, and pockets of Republican support in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Long Island. Oh, and the ‘burbs—Bayonne, New Jersey and Greenwich, Connecticut. The other zip codes sending the most funding to Trump are in Texas (Austin, Houston, Southlake); Florida (Ponte Vedra Beach and Vero Beach); Olathe, Kansas; Nashville, Tennessee; and California (Newport Beach and Fairbanks Ranch).

Source: Federal Election CommissionWIRED While large coastal metropolitan areas generally go for Clinton, there are exceptions: Even in traditionally liberal San Francisco, Trump collected $5,200 from one neighborhood on the north side of town. South, in Los Angeles, Trump collected $8,700 from the Palos Verdes area. The southeastern quadrant of the US shows the most support for Trump, though in general the dollar amounts he draws from individual zip codes tend to be smaller than sums collected by Clinton. Clinton’s $26.9 million in August came in from a total of 14,547 zip codes, while Trump’s $18.3 million take was sent from 7,605 zip codes. Both candidates raised less money in August than in July. We’ll have to wait until next month’s filing on October 20 to see how Monday night’s debate performance affects donations.