Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupPrairie CountyMontanaUnited States
German41.7%22.9%12.5%
Irish14.6%13.5%9.4%
American10.5%5.4%5.3%
English10.2%13.1%9.5%
Dutch4.7%——
Scotch-Irish3.2%——
Swedish2.3%1.4%—
Norwegian2.2%7.5%—
Japanese2.7%—0.2%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Prairie County
Montana
United States
Median age
57.8
40.8
39.1
Age 18–24
3.4%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
42.1%
20.0%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Prairie County
Montana
United States
Median household income
$51,250
$72,509
$84,427
Poverty rate
20.6%
11.5%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
26.9%
35.3%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Prairie County
Montana
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
1.1%
4.2%
22.3%
German or other West Germanic
1.1%
0.8%
0.5%
Religious landscape
Measure
Prairie County
Montana
United States
Catholic
4.6%
10.3%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
6.3%
13.6%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
74.7%
65.3%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
14.4%
4.7%
5.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Prairie County, Montana
Precinct data
Results by precinct
4 precincts · 688 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
Prairie County precinct-level presidential election results for 2024
Precinct -PRECINCT NO. 4PRECINCT NO. 4
18
187
4
209
8.6%
89.5%
R+80.9
Precinct -PRECINCT NO. 1PRECINCT NO. 1
47
129
7
183
25.7%
70.5%
R+44.8
Precinct -PRECINCT NO. 2PRECINCT NO. 2
28
118
5
151
18.5%
78.1%
R+59.6
Precinct -PRECINCT NO. 3PRECINCT NO. 3
29
112
4
145
20.0%
77.2%
R+57.2
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1916–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1916
+7.4%
1920
−55.6%
1924
−42.9%
1928
−40.8%
1932
+7.1%
1936
+31.0%
1940
−3.7%
1944
−12.1%
1948
+2.7%
1952
−38.9%
1956
−22.5%
1960
−31.5%
1964
−6.4%
1968
−39.0%
1972
−38.2%
1976
−17.9%
1980
−32.0%
1984
−40.8%
1988
−22.0%
1992
−17.8%
1996
−20.3%
2000
−50.5%
2004
−49.6%
2008
−39.7%
2012
−50.2%
2016
−66.2%
2020
−64.1%
2024
−61.6%
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
R
17.7%Harris122
79.4%Trump546
2.2%Kennedy15 +2
R+61.6
D+2.5
R+60.2
688
All 5 candidates in 2024 · 3 minor / independent
Donald J TrumpRepublican79.4%546
Kamala D HarrisDemocratic17.7%122
Robert F Kennedy Jr.Independent2.2%15
Chase OliverLibertarian0.6%4
Jill SteinIndependent0.1%1
R
16.9%Biden126
81.0%Trump603
2.0%Jorgensen15
R+64.1
D+2.1
R+68.6
744
R
14.5%Clinton100
80.7%Trump556
4.4%Johnson30
R+66.2
R+16.0
R+68.3
689
R
23.8%Obama167
74.0%Romney520
2.3%GRAY16
R+50.2
R+10.5
R+54.1
703
R
28.7%Obama211
68.4%McCain503
2.9%
R+39.7
D+9.9
R+47.0
735
R
24.6%Kerry181
74.2%Bush546
1.2%
R+49.6
D+0.9
R+47.1
736
R
22.0%Gore164
72.5%Bush541
3.2%Nader24
R+50.5
R+30.3
R+51.1
746
R
33.2%Clinton259
53.5%Dole417
12.7%Perot99
R+20.3
R+2.5
R+28.8
780
R
30.4%Clinton260
48.1%Bush412
20.9%Perot179
R+17.8
D+4.2
R+23.3
856
R
38.1%Dukakis343
60.1%Bush541
1.8%
R+22.0
D+18.8
R+14.3
900
R
29.2%Mondale289
69.9%Reagan693
0.9%
R+40.8
R+8.7
R+22.5
991
R
30.5%Carter283
62.6%Reagan580
6.9%
R+32.0
R+14.2
R+22.3
927
R
40.7%Carter415
58.6%Ford597
0.7%
R+17.9
D+20.4
R+19.9
1,019
R
30.3%McGovern303
68.6%Nixon685
1.1%
R+38.2
D+0.7
R+15.1
999
R
28.8%Humphrey270
67.8%Nixon635
3.4%
R+39.0
R+32.6
R+38.3
937
R
46.6%Johnson488
53.0%Goldwater555
0.5%
R+6.4
D+25.1
R+29.0
1,048
R
34.2%Kennedy338
65.8%Nixon649
0.0%
R+31.5
R+9.0
R+31.7
987
R
38.8%Stevenson403
61.3%Eisenhower637
0.0%
R+22.5
D+16.4
R+7.1
1,040
R
30.3%Stevenson338
69.2%Eisenhower771
0.4%
R+38.9
R+41.6
R+28.1
1,114
D
50.6%Truman527
47.9%Dewey499
1.5%
D+2.7
D+14.8
R+1.8
1,042
R
43.6%Roosevelt468
55.7%Dewey598
0.7%
R+12.1
R+8.4
R+19.6
1,074
R
47.7%Roosevelt554
51.4%Willkie597
0.9%
R+3.7
R+34.7
R+13.7
1,161
D
64.3%Roosevelt877
33.3%Landon454
2.3%
D+31.0
D+24.0
D+6.8
1,363
D
52.8%Roosevelt732
45.7%Hoover634
1.5%
D+7.1
D+47.9
R+10.7
1,387
R
29.4%Smith405
70.2%Hoover968
0.4%
R+40.8
D+2.1
R+23.4
1,379
R
13.3%Davis162
56.2%Coolidge683
30.2%La Follette367
R+42.9
D+12.7
R+17.7
1,215
R
21.1%Cox242
76.7%Harding881
2.3%
R+55.6
R+63.0
R+29.4
1,149
D
52.8%Wilson622
45.4%Hughes535
1.9%
D+7.4
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D+4.2
1,179
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Congressional elections · 3 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2024
R
26.0%180
70.6%489
693
2020
R
21.6%161
78.4%586
747
2018
R
27.1%177
68.9%450
653
voter registration
Registered voters
Total registered voters, over time
Registered voters
Voter registration in Prairie County, MT
Year
Total registered
2016
879
2018
867
2020
873
2022
867
2024
839
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
+10 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net −22 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $51,300 in average income, against $61,469 for residents who stayed — 17% lower. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
Migration is one input to a place’s political change, not its cause — a shift can also come from residents changing their minds, generational turnover, or turnout. These figures describe the places people moved between; they do not measure how any mover voted.
Domestic migration in Prairie County, MT in Prairie County, MT: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−37
2012
−2
2013
+30
2014
−35
2015
+15
2016
+30
2017
−57
2018
−27
2019
+3
2021
+20
2022
+20
2023
+6
2024
+2
2025
+10
Prairie County's roughly 1,200 residents are spread across 1,700 square miles of eastern Montana rangeland, and its presidential margins have exceeded R+60 in recent cycles, making it a reliable anchor of the state's heavily Republican eastern bloc.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 31.0 points in 1936 and a Republican high of 66.2 points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 2.5 points toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was 61.6 points.
A population of 1,250, a 88% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $51,250 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Musselshell County and Petroleum County.
Akashic
Political twins — counties
The counties whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
In 2024, Prairie County, Montana voted Republican by 61.6 points (R+61.6), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 688 votes cast, 122 went Democratic and 546 went Republican.
When did Prairie County, Montana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Prairie County, Montana voted Democratic was 1948.
How many people live in Prairie County, Montana?
Prairie County, Montana has a population of 1,250 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Prairie County, Montana?
Median household income in Prairie County, Montana is $51,250 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Prairie County, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Prairie County, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 4 went Democratic and 24 went Republican.
