akashic
1876–2024
Helena, MT·Montana

Helena, MT peaked at D+67; 2024 delivered R+15.

Montana's capital anchors a rare urban-rural political crossroads

1876 — 2024·38 elections
MT
Latest
R+15
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
93,906
2024 ACS

Helena, MT, Montana: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+15%. Democratic peak: D+67 in 1896.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+15MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
PopulistAkashic typology
Population
93,9062024 5-year
Median household income
$79,9422024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
90.7%2024 5-year
Black
0.5%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
3.8%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+67 in 1896MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+28 in 1956MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
3 counties · 0 D · 3 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
R
−15.1%
22,48630,79355,124
R
−12.3%
23,20329,92754,513
R
−14.1%
17,04923,42045,143
R
−10.2%
18,65623,01042,850
D
+0.4%
20,55320,37942,020
R
−18.3%
15,13122,11638,067
R
−23.0%
11,95719,88734,506
R
−3.1%
13,91314,94233,314
D
+4.0%
13,02311,72232,246
D
+0.9%
14,27014,00728,854
R
−23.5%
10,55017,14028,074
R
−26.0%
8,27115,02125,999
R
−11.0%
9,88512,36222,560
R
−26.3%
7,39612,91620,977
R
−16.4%
6,6389,44817,122
D
+9.9%
9,0687,42616,522
R
−8.3%
7,4088,75716,186
R
−28.4%
5,5069,87715,383
R
−26.1%
5,6859,70915,427
R
−3.9%
6,1176,62813,086
D
+0.5%
6,0986,03912,184
D
+11.0%
7,9276,34714,393
D
+32.8%
8,0944,02612,385
D
+16.2%
6,9484,96712,229
R
−13.8%
4,6926,19710,937
R
−18.1%
2,7894,61210,059
R
−22.9%
3,7236,04010,096
D
+15.8%
6,5614,71911,652
O
+14.4%
2,4351,5066,461
D
+5.5%
3,2712,9056,683
R
−14.9%
2,5263,5606,917
D
+20.2%
4,3152,8497,260
D
+66.8%
6,1241,2107,355
D
+1.0%
2,8232,7547,225
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.2%
Irish
16.4%
English
16.0%
American
5.2%
Scottish
3.3%
French
3.1%
Italian
3.1%
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: 42.9 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.4%
85+
0.9%
3.1%
75–84
3.1%
6.6%
65–74
6.7%
6.9%
55–64
7.5%
5.9%
45–54
5.9%
6.8%
35–44
6.4%
6.1%
25–34
5.6%
3.5%
18–24
3.7%
8.0%
5–17
7.9%
2.6%
<5
2.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$79,942
Helena, MT ranks near the middle of US counties.
Helena, MT$79,942
Montana$72,509
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
8.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 187.0%
Working age (18–64)8.3%
Seniors (65+)9.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.3%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.1%
Spanish1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Other Christian
11.1%
Catholic & Orthodox
11.1%
Mainline Protestant
4.1%
Pentecostal & Holiness
3.3%
Methodist
1.3%
Baptist
0.9%
Non-Christian
0.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 67.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Helena's Lewis and Clark County swings closer to statewide margins than most Montana metros, making it a bellwether corridor where state-employee demographics and surrounding ranch country pull the electorate in competing directions.

The Democratic margin in Helena, MT peaked at sixty-seven points in 1896. By 2012 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.

The economic context is the key. The median household income of $79,942 sits well below state and national norms, and 8% 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.
Helena, MT, Montana — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/25740/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Helena, MT, Montana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Helena, MT, Montana voted Republican by 15.1 points (R+15), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 55,124 votes cast, 22,486 went Democratic and 30,793 went Republican.
What is Helena, MT, Montana's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Helena, 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 13 times, Republican 20 times, and other 1 times.
When did Helena, MT, Montana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Helena, MT, Montana voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Helena, MT, Montana?
Helena, MT, Montana has a population of 93,906 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Helena, MT, Montana?
Median household income in Helena, MT, Montana is $79,942 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Helena, MT, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Helena, MT, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.