Billings, MT, Montana: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+30%. Republican peak: R+40 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+30MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 189,2552024 5-year
- Median household income
- $77,1832024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+25 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+40 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Billings, MT, MTOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 31,801 | 59,878 | 94,594 | ||
| R | 34,256 | 59,702 | 96,597 | ||
| R | 24,907 | 48,329 | 81,350 | ||
| R | 29,797 | 47,370 | 79,356 | ||
| R | 35,993 | 42,582 | 80,829 | ||
| R | 26,992 | 47,335 | 75,820 | ||
| R | 22,729 | 39,695 | 66,206 | ||
| R | 26,128 | 30,385 | 64,444 | ||
| R | 22,890 | 25,774 | 64,710 | ||
| R | 25,433 | 32,349 | 58,496 | ||
| R | 22,194 | 39,119 | 61,998 | ||
| R | 17,659 | 31,631 | 55,660 | ||
| R | 21,325 | 28,768 | 50,805 | ||
| R | 15,610 | 29,281 | 46,577 | ||
| R | 13,711 | 23,217 | 39,645 | ||
| D | 20,674 | 18,246 | 39,143 | ||
| R | 15,295 | 22,972 | 38,458 | ||
| R | 12,921 | 22,549 | 35,470 | ||
| R | 11,279 | 21,979 | 33,347 | ||
| R | 12,605 | 13,380 | 26,640 | ||
| R | 11,147 | 12,033 | 23,297 | ||
| D | 12,915 | 12,155 | 25,291 | ||
| D | 12,983 | 7,844 | 21,314 | ||
| D | 9,930 | 8,413 | 19,012 | ||
| R | 5,590 | 11,105 | 16,876 | ||
| R | 2,245 | 8,018 | 15,057 | ||
| R | 4,553 | 10,135 | 15,435 | ||
| D | 7,382 | 5,907 | 13,999 | ||
| O | 1,989 | 1,650 | 6,424 | ||
| R | 1,958 | 3,008 | 5,502 | ||
| R | 900 | 2,379 | 3,687 | ||
| R | 1,561 | 1,746 | 3,363 | ||
| D | 1,314 | 794 | 2,113 | ||
| R | 369 | 479 | 889 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
28.9%
Irish
13.3%
English
12.9%
American
4.7%
Italian
3.3%
Scottish
2.7%
French
2.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 40.0 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$77,183
Billings, MT ranks near the middle of US counties.
Billings, MT$77,183
Montana$72,509
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
9.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.0%
Working age (18–64)9.1%
Seniors (65+)8.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.5%
speak English only
Spanish1.4%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Other languages0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 67.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Billings metro anchors Yellowstone County, a reliable Republican stronghold where oil, gas, and refinery employment concentrate enough working-class voters to consistently widen statewide margins.
The Democratic margin in Billings, MT peaked at twenty-five points in 1896. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $77,183 sits well below state and national norms, and 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Billings, MT, Montana — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/13740/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Billings, MT, Montana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Billings, MT, Montana voted Republican by 29.7 points (R+30), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 94,594 votes cast, 31,801 went Democratic and 59,878 went Republican.
What is Billings, MT, Montana's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Billings, MT, Montana as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 6 times, Republican 27 times, and other 1 times.
When did Billings, MT, Montana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Billings, MT, Montana voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Billings, MT, Montana?
Billings, MT, Montana has a population of 189,255 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Billings, MT, Montana?
Median household income in Billings, MT, Montana is $77,183 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Billings, MT, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Billings, MT, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.