Lake County, Montana: Republican loyalist county. In 2024, voted R+20%. Republican peak: R+31 in 1952.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+20MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Republican loyalistAkashic 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.
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
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.
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.
Median household income
2024 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
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
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.
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.
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.
The Republican margin in Lake County reached its widest at thirty-one points in 1952. The margin in 2024 was twenty points, in line with the county's deep historical pattern.
Its loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $63,360, a 66% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 32,561 together describe a community whose political habits are deeply settled. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Houghton County and Carbon County.
Most similar counties
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Lake County, Montana — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://akashic.app/county/30047/. 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 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 archetype?
Akashic classifies Lake County, Montana as a "Republican loyalist" county based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. 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 archetype — "Republican loyalist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.