Pondera County, Montana: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+42%. Democratic peak: D+53 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 6,0352024 5-year
- Median household income
- $52,3382024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+53 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Teton County, MT · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Pondera CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Pondera County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
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 | −28.7% |
| 1924 | −17.3% |
| 1928 | −16.6% |
| 1932 | +30.4% |
| 1936 | +53.0% |
| 1940 | +28.9% |
| 1944 | +23.6% |
| 1948 | +25.6% |
| 1952 | −15.8% |
| 1956 | −6.9% |
| 1960 | +6.5% |
| 1964 | +22.6% |
| 1968 | −13.2% |
| 1972 | −20.5% |
| 1976 | −8.0% |
| 1980 | −40.0% |
| 1984 | −36.2% |
| 1988 | −17.7% |
| 1992 | −6.5% |
| 1996 | −10.6% |
| 2000 | −39.9% |
| 2004 | −31.4% |
| 2008 | −12.7% |
| 2012 | −25.7% |
| 2016 | −39.0% |
| 2020 | −37.7% |
| 2024 | −41.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 782 | 1,972 | 2,852 | ||
| R | 903 | 2,031 | 2,995 | ||
| R | 738 | 1,799 | 2,723 | ||
| R | 975 | 1,673 | 2,719 | ||
| R | 1,223 | 1,588 | 2,885 | ||
| R | 956 | 1,853 | 2,860 | ||
| R | 792 | 1,948 | 2,896 | ||
| R | 1,123 | 1,438 | 2,963 | ||
| R | 1,046 | 1,252 | 3,165 | ||
| R | 1,245 | 1,795 | 3,114 | ||
| R | 1,039 | 2,239 | 3,316 | ||
| R | 897 | 2,270 | 3,432 | ||
| R | 1,413 | 1,666 | 3,150 | ||
| R | 1,215 | 1,890 | 3,292 | ||
| R | 1,149 | 1,530 | 2,888 | ||
| D | 1,759 | 1,110 | 2,877 | ||
| D | 1,653 | 1,452 | 3,105 | ||
| R | 1,438 | 1,651 | 3,089 | ||
| R | 1,246 | 1,719 | 2,992 | ||
| D | 1,555 | 902 | 2,550 | ||
| D | 1,448 | 890 | 2,361 | ||
| D | 1,899 | 1,038 | 2,980 | ||
| D | 2,213 | 658 | 2,934 | ||
| D | 1,805 | 930 | 2,875 | ||
| R | 944 | 1,324 | 2,283 | ||
| O | 414 | 764 | 2,028 | ||
| R | 893 | 1,654 | 2,647 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
27.3%
Irish
8.9%
English
7.4%
American
3.8%
Italian
1.2%
French
1.1%
Polish
0.7%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 42.0 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.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$52,338
Pondera County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Pondera County$52,338
Montana$72,509
United States$80,734
Pondera County ranks in the bottom 25% 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
21.9%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1828.3%
Working age (18–64)21.3%
Seniors (65+)9.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.2%
speak English only
Other Indo-European8.2%
Spanish1.6%
Other languages0.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 40.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Pondera's sparse, agriculture-driven economy and small population make it one of Montana's most lopsided presidential counties, delivering R+41.7 in 2024 against a backdrop of wheat farms and cattle range bordering the Blackfeet Reservation.
The Republican margin here reached forty-two points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-two points.
A median household income of $52,338, a 79% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 6,035 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Teton County and Yellowstone 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.
Pondera County, Montana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/30073/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Montana
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Frequently asked questions
How did Pondera County, Montana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Pondera County, Montana voted Republican by 41.7 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,852 votes cast, 782 went Democratic and 1,972 went Republican.
What is Pondera County, Montana's political typology?
Akashic places Pondera County, Montana in the "Sunbelt Conservative" typology — Affluent, predominantly white Sunbelt counties — reliably Republican. 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 7 times, Republican 19 times, and other 1 times.
When did Pondera County, Montana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Pondera County, Montana voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Pondera County, Montana?
Pondera County, Montana has a population of 6,035 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Pondera County, Montana?
Median household income in Pondera County, Montana is $52,338 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Pondera County, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Pondera County, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 19 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.