Could Suffolk County be the most ‘politically intolerant’ county in the US? One study seems to think so

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/File 2018

A new study has determined that Suffolk County could possibly be the most “politically intolerant” county nationwide.

In fact, the analysis, conducted by PredictWise in collaboration with The Atlantic, found that all Massachusetts counties appear to be among the most prejudiced against the political “other.” The researchers polled 2,000 adults on their feelings about the opposite political party and used voter files to project the findings onto the broader American population.

“In general, the most politically intolerant Americans, according to the analysis, tend to be whiter, more highly educated, older, more urban, and more partisan themselves,” The Atlantic wrote in a report discussing the study.

Nationwide, if we disregard the smallest counties, the most politically intolerant county in America appears to be Suffolk County, Massachusetts, which includes the city of Boston. https://t.co/oVE9DF17EH

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) March 4, 2019

Researchers noted that Suffolk County is a very urban county with a relatively high education level; factors that tend to correlate with partisan prejudice.

Based on the study, PredictWise created two other rankings reflecting the directional flow of partisan prejudice. On the whole, Democrats in Massachusetts were considerably more prejudiced against Republicans than elsewhere.

Republicans in Massachusetts hold a similar distaste toward Democrats, the survey found, except in Suffolk County, where members of the GOP are significantly less prejudiced towards Democrats than their counterparts elsewhere.