Yellowstone County, Montana: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+27%. Republican peak: R+46 in 1904.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+27MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 168,9572024 5-year
- Median household income
- $76,5702024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+24 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+46 in 1904MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Pondera County, MT · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Yellowstone CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Yellowstone 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 | −12.4% |
| 1896 | +14.5% |
| 1900 | −10.8% |
| 1904 | −45.8% |
| 1908 | −21.6% |
| 1912 | +4.9% |
| 1916 | +12.5% |
| 1920 | −33.4% |
| 1924 | −42.0% |
| 1928 | −36.5% |
| 1932 | +3.4% |
| 1936 | +24.1% |
| 1940 | +3.2% |
| 1944 | −3.3% |
| 1948 | −3.1% |
| 1952 | −33.4% |
| 1956 | −29.8% |
| 1960 | −22.2% |
| 1964 | +5.6% |
| 1968 | −24.3% |
| 1972 | −28.8% |
| 1976 | −15.6% |
| 1980 | −25.0% |
| 1984 | −27.1% |
| 1988 | −12.0% |
| 1992 | −4.7% |
| 1996 | −6.0% |
| 2000 | −23.6% |
| 2004 | −25.3% |
| 2008 | −6.3% |
| 2012 | −20.5% |
| 2016 | −26.6% |
| 2020 | −24.0% |
| 2024 | −27.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 28,392 | 50,460 | 81,391 | ||
| R | 30,679 | 50,772 | 83,821 | ||
| R | 22,171 | 40,920 | 70,486 | ||
| R | 26,403 | 40,500 | 68,807 | ||
| R | 32,038 | 36,483 | 70,416 | ||
| R | 24,120 | 40,903 | 66,286 | ||
| R | 20,370 | 33,922 | 57,499 | ||
| R | 22,992 | 26,367 | 55,882 | ||
| R | 20,163 | 22,822 | 56,450 | ||
| R | 21,987 | 28,069 | 50,647 | ||
| R | 19,437 | 34,124 | 54,153 | ||
| R | 15,272 | 27,332 | 48,313 | ||
| R | 18,329 | 25,201 | 44,125 | ||
| R | 13,602 | 25,205 | 40,237 | ||
| R | 11,682 | 19,898 | 33,857 | ||
| D | 17,446 | 15,571 | 33,239 | ||
| R | 12,356 | 19,467 | 32,006 | ||
| R | 10,088 | 18,664 | 28,752 | ||
| R | 8,750 | 17,556 | 26,357 | ||
| R | 9,718 | 10,342 | 20,384 | ||
| R | 8,140 | 8,706 | 16,925 | ||
| D | 9,036 | 8,479 | 17,655 | ||
| D | 8,575 | 5,193 | 14,016 | ||
| D | 5,777 | 5,386 | 11,483 | ||
| R | 3,205 | 6,904 | 10,141 | ||
| R | 1,172 | 4,715 | 8,433 | ||
| R | 2,782 | 5,714 | 8,780 | ||
| D | 4,259 | 3,281 | 7,801 | ||
| O | 1,193 | 1,004 | 3,828 | ||
| R | 1,114 | 1,803 | 3,185 | ||
| R | 436 | 1,249 | 1,774 | ||
| R | 654 | 816 | 1,497 | ||
| D | 575 | 429 | 1,009 | ||
| R | 369 | 479 | 889 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
29.0%
Irish
13.2%
English
12.7%
American
4.7%
Italian
3.3%
Scottish
2.7%
French
2.3%
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: 39.0 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
$76,570
Yellowstone County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Yellowstone County$76,570
Montana$72,509
United States$80,734
Yellowstone County ranks in the top 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
9.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.3%
Working age (18–64)9.2%
Seniors (65+)8.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.3%
speak English only
Spanish1.5%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 66.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to Billings, Montana's largest city, Yellowstone County combines an urban commercial hub with surrounding ranching plains — a mix that still produces some of the most lopsided Republican margins of any high-population county in the state.
The Republican margin here reached forty-six points in 1904. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-seven points.
A population of 168,957, a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $76,570 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Pondera County and Teton 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.
Yellowstone County, Montana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/30111/. 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 Yellowstone County, Montana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Yellowstone County, Montana voted Republican by 27.1 points (R+27), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 81,391 votes cast, 28,392 went Democratic and 50,460 went Republican.
What is Yellowstone County, Montana's political typology?
Akashic places Yellowstone County, Montana in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. 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 6 times, Republican 27 times, and other 1 times.
When did Yellowstone County, Montana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Yellowstone County, Montana voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Yellowstone County, Montana?
Yellowstone County, Montana has a population of 168,957 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Yellowstone County, Montana?
Median household income in Yellowstone County, Montana is $76,570 — below the national median of $80,734. The Montana state median is $72,509.
What is the political history of Yellowstone County, Montana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Yellowstone County, Montana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.