Lake County, Montana: Industrial Catholic Metro county. In 2024, voted R+20%. Republican peak: R+31 in 1952.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+20MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Industrial Catholic MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 32,5612024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,3602024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 65.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+28 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+31 in 1952MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Houghton County, MI · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Lake CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Lake County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | No data |
| 1916 | No data |
| 1920 | No data |
| 1924 | −17.2% |
| 1928 | −19.6% |
| 1932 | +28.2% |
| 1936 | +28.4% |
| 1940 | −6.5% |
| 1944 | −12.7% |
| 1948 | −2.5% |
| 1952 | −31.3% |
| 1956 | −19.8% |
| 1960 | −13.6% |
| 1964 | +5.3% |
| 1968 | −23.4% |
| 1972 | −28.5% |
| 1976 | −7.7% |
| 1980 | −28.9% |
| 1984 | −24.4% |
| 1988 | −8.5% |
| 1992 | +3.2% |
| 1996 | −4.9% |
| 2000 | −22.3% |
| 2004 | −18.2% |
| 2008 | +1.9% |
| 2012 | −10.0% |
| 2016 | −20.9% |
| 2020 | −14.5% |
| 2024 | −19.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 6,510 | 9,880 | 16,910 | ||
| R | 6,916 | 9,322 | 16,626 | ||
| R | 4,776 | 7,530 | 13,181 | ||
| R | 5,805 | 7,135 | 13,304 | ||
| D | 6,766 | 6,498 | 13,913 | ||
| R | 4,960 | 7,245 | 12,576 | ||
| R | 3,884 | 6,441 | 11,448 | ||
| R | 4,195 | 4,723 | 10,840 | ||
| D | 3,938 | 3,596 | 10,552 | ||
| R | 4,109 | 4,883 | 9,150 | ||
| R | 3,473 | 5,754 | 9,348 | ||
| R | 2,615 | 5,083 | 8,532 | ||
| R | 3,253 | 3,809 | 7,210 | ||
| R | 2,260 | 4,172 | 6,719 | ||
| R | 1,956 | 3,358 | 5,999 | ||
| D | 3,148 | 2,828 | 5,986 | ||
| R | 2,462 | 3,240 | 5,709 | ||
| R | 2,253 | 3,363 | 5,616 | ||
| R | 1,893 | 3,651 | 5,609 | ||
| R | 2,177 | 2,295 | 4,650 | ||
| R | 1,750 | 2,265 | 4,059 | ||
| R | 2,379 | 2,718 | 5,181 | ||
| D | 2,656 | 1,401 | 4,422 | ||
| D | 2,514 | 1,361 | 4,082 | ||
| R | 1,256 | 1,876 | 3,157 | ||
| O | 340 | 884 | 3,157 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.1%
English
13.9%
Irish
11.1%
American
5.0%
Italian
2.5%
Scottish
2.5%
French
2.4%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
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.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 44.3 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.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$63,360
Lake County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Lake County$63,360
Montana$72,509
United States$80,734
Lake County ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
17.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1823.0%
Working age (18–64)15.9%
Seniors (65+)13.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.8%
speak English only
Other languages2.5%
Spanish1.6%
Other Indo-European1.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 70.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Lake County's Flathead Indian Reservation shapes its electorate in ways that distinguish it from surrounding rural Montana counties, producing more competitive margins than the R+30-plus results common to the region despite an overall Republican lean.
Its margins are typically close. The Democratic margin reached twenty-eight points in 1936; the Republican margin reached thirty-one points in 1952. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty points.
Its demographics sit near national norms: a 66% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $63,360, and a 17% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Houghton County and Carbon County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Lake County, Montana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/30047/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Montana
More industrial catholic metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Lake County, Montana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Lake County, Montana voted Republican by 19.9 points (R+20), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,910 votes cast, 6,510 went Democratic and 9,880 went Republican.
What is Lake County, Montana's political typology?
Akashic places Lake County, Montana in the "Industrial Catholic Metro" typology — Mid-size industrial metros with Catholic ethnic roots — among the most competitive, swing-prone ground in the country. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 5 times, Republican 20 times, and other 1 times.
When did Lake County, Montana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lake County, Montana voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Lake County, Montana?
Lake County, Montana has a population of 32,561 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lake County, Montana?
Median household income in Lake County, Montana is $63,360 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Lake County, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Lake County, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The county's typology — "Industrial Catholic Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.