Missoula, Montana: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+14%. Democratic peak: D+73 in 1896.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+14MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 332,3612024 5-year
- Median household income
- $72,1592024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+73 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+30 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Missoula, 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 | 80,933 | 108,929 | 195,805 | ||
| R | 82,454 | 102,011 | 188,851 | ||
| R | 58,044 | 81,638 | 153,697 | ||
| R | 62,759 | 78,706 | 146,284 | ||
| R | 71,251 | 71,431 | 148,344 | ||
| R | 52,122 | 76,379 | 132,170 | ||
| R | 35,747 | 67,078 | 117,051 | ||
| R | 44,381 | 48,762 | 111,370 | ||
| D | 41,386 | 35,905 | 107,749 | ||
| R | 41,511 | 46,284 | 89,488 | ||
| R | 34,937 | 54,994 | 91,472 | ||
| R | 27,636 | 47,419 | 85,324 | ||
| R | 32,736 | 38,710 | 72,948 | ||
| R | 26,214 | 38,046 | 67,343 | ||
| R | 20,007 | 26,069 | 51,696 | ||
| D | 30,758 | 21,626 | 52,496 | ||
| R | 23,155 | 27,079 | 50,388 | ||
| R | 19,781 | 28,666 | 48,447 | ||
| R | 17,813 | 27,813 | 45,988 | ||
| D | 18,354 | 17,503 | 37,334 | ||
| R | 15,001 | 16,196 | 31,542 | ||
| D | 21,312 | 17,518 | 39,374 | ||
| D | 22,285 | 9,546 | 33,908 | ||
| D | 17,084 | 11,428 | 30,687 | ||
| R | 9,383 | 16,015 | 25,826 | ||
| O | 3,366 | 8,515 | 25,024 | ||
| R | 8,299 | 12,715 | 22,760 | ||
| D | 11,785 | 9,080 | 22,647 | ||
| O | 4,247 | 1,850 | 12,415 | ||
| R | 4,929 | 5,581 | 11,684 | ||
| R | 2,901 | 5,867 | 9,840 | ||
| D | 5,166 | 3,789 | 9,098 | ||
| D | 6,907 | 1,046 | 7,977 | ||
| D | 2,340 | 2,045 | 5,136 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.9%
English
14.8%
Irish
13.6%
American
4.5%
Italian
3.8%
French
3.1%
Scottish
3.0%
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: 42.2 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
$72,159
Missoula ranks near the middle of US counties.
Missoula$72,159
Montana$72,509
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1810.7%
Working age (18–64)10.7%
Seniors (65+)9.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.9%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.5%
Spanish1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 69.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Missoula's media market pairs one of Montana's most reliably Democratic cities with vast rural stretches that vote in the opposite direction, making it a study in the urban-rural split that defines statewide contests.
The Democratic margin in Missoula peaked at seventy-three points in 1896. By 1996 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fourteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $72,159 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% 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.
Missoula, Montana — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/762/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Missoula, Montana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Missoula, Montana voted Republican by 14.3 points (R+14), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 195,805 votes cast, 80,933 went Democratic and 108,929 went Republican.
What is Missoula, Montana's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Missoula, Montana as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 10 times, Republican 22 times, and other 2 times.
When did Missoula, Montana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Missoula, Montana voted Democratic was 1992.
How many people live in Missoula, Montana?
Missoula, Montana has a population of 332,361 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Missoula, Montana?
Median household income in Missoula, Montana is $72,159 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Missoula, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Missoula, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.