Silver Bow County, Montana: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted D+7%. Democratic peak: D+77 in 1896.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+7MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 35,7852024 5-year
- Median household income
- $61,7542024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+77 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+20 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Deer Lodge County, MT · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Silver Bow CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Silver Bow 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 | −7.2% |
| 1896 | +77.2% |
| 1900 | +50.4% |
| 1904 | +3.8% |
| 1908 | +12.0% |
| 1912 | +19.4% |
| 1916 | +29.4% |
| 1920 | −20.2% |
| 1924 | −6.0% |
| 1928 | +8.4% |
| 1932 | +31.3% |
| 1936 | +58.2% |
| 1940 | +37.1% |
| 1944 | +26.7% |
| 1948 | +25.4% |
| 1952 | +12.4% |
| 1956 | −0.6% |
| 1960 | +30.5% |
| 1964 | +51.2% |
| 1968 | +36.4% |
| 1972 | +18.3% |
| 1976 | +20.3% |
| 1980 | +12.5% |
| 1984 | +24.8% |
| 1988 | +38.2% |
| 1992 | +35.6% |
| 1996 | +41.2% |
| 2000 | +16.0% |
| 2004 | +18.2% |
| 2008 | +40.4% |
| 2012 | +32.4% |
| 2016 | +13.6% |
| 2020 | +14.2% |
| 2024 | +7.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 9,386 | 8,110 | 18,226 | ||
| D | 10,392 | 7,745 | 18,658 | ||
| D | 8,619 | 6,376 | 16,452 | ||
| D | 10,857 | 5,430 | 16,756 | ||
| D | 11,676 | 4,818 | 16,965 | ||
| D | 9,307 | 6,381 | 16,084 | ||
| D | 8,967 | 6,299 | 16,703 | ||
| D | 11,199 | 3,909 | 17,677 | ||
| D | 9,960 | 3,491 | 18,146 | ||
| D | 11,422 | 5,043 | 16,687 | ||
| D | 11,095 | 6,637 | 18,010 | ||
| D | 9,721 | 7,301 | 19,377 | ||
| D | 11,377 | 7,506 | 19,110 | ||
| D | 11,704 | 7,967 | 20,404 | ||
| D | 12,626 | 5,488 | 19,617 | ||
| D | 15,751 | 4,873 | 21,239 | ||
| D | 13,754 | 7,290 | 21,190 | ||
| R | 11,475 | 11,619 | 23,094 | ||
| D | 13,114 | 10,196 | 23,458 | ||
| D | 12,715 | 7,305 | 21,335 | ||
| D | 13,228 | 7,610 | 21,040 | ||
| D | 17,467 | 7,932 | 25,734 | ||
| D | 17,697 | 4,528 | 22,623 | ||
| D | 13,626 | 6,792 | 21,834 | ||
| D | 11,228 | 9,456 | 21,103 | ||
| O | 5,393 | 6,520 | 18,814 | ||
| R | 6,394 | 10,074 | 18,198 | ||
| D | 13,084 | 6,757 | 21,547 | ||
| O | 4,542 | 2,232 | 11,896 | ||
| D | 6,255 | 4,618 | 13,656 | ||
| D | 5,686 | 5,149 | 14,274 | ||
| D | 12,101 | 3,873 | 16,310 | ||
| D | 9,992 | 1,275 | 11,296 | ||
| R | 2,648 | 3,251 | 8,426 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
24.8%
German
19.8%
English
11.8%
Italian
5.9%
American
4.7%
French
2.7%
Scottish
2.6%
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: 40.5 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
$61,754
Silver Bow County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Silver Bow County$61,754
Montana$72,509
United States$80,734
Silver Bow 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
14.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.2%
Working age (18–64)14.9%
Seniors (65+)12.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Asian & Pacific Islander1.3%
Other Indo-European0.7%
Spanish0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
One of Montana's few reliably Democratic counties, Silver Bow anchors its leftward lean in Butte's century-old labor movement and a working-class Irish Catholic demographic identity that has proven durable even as rural Montana has trended sharply Republican.
The Democratic margin here peaked at seventy-seven points in 1896. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was seven points.
A population of 35,785, a 91% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $61,754 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Deer Lodge County and Costilla 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.
Silver Bow County, Montana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/30093/. 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 Silver Bow County, Montana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Silver Bow County, Montana voted Democratic by 7.0 points (D+7), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 18,226 votes cast, 9,386 went Democratic and 8,110 went Republican.
What is Silver Bow County, Montana's political typology?
Akashic places Silver Bow County, Montana in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. 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 29 times, Republican 3 times, and other 2 times.
When did Silver Bow County, Montana last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Silver Bow County, Montana voted Republican was 1956.
How many people live in Silver Bow County, Montana?
Silver Bow County, Montana has a population of 35,785 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Silver Bow County, Montana?
Median household income in Silver Bow County, Montana is $61,754 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Silver Bow County, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Silver Bow County, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 29 went Democratic and 3 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.