Hill County, Montana

Hill County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,309.^[1] Its county seat is Havre.^[2] It lies along the United States border with Canada, abutting Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Hill County
County
Hill County Courthouse in Havre
Location within the U.S. state of Montana
Montana's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 48°38′N 110°07′W
Country	United States
State	Montana
Founded	1912
Named after	James J. Hill
Seat	Havre
Largest city	Havre
Area
• Total	2,916 sq mi (7,550 km2)
• Land	2,899 sq mi (7,510 km2)
• Water	17 sq mi (40 km2)  0.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	16,309
• Estimate  (2024)	16,065
• Density	5.6/sq mi (2.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district	2nd
Website	hillcounty.us
Montana county number 12

Part of its territory is within the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation, which is held by the federally recognized Chippewa-Cree Tribe.

History

The first European-American settlement in the future county area was Fort Assinniboine, garrisoned by the United States Army in 1879. Fifteen of the original 104 structures from the fort are still standing. A portion of the fort was ceded for use as the Indian reservation, which was established in 1916.

The county is named after James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway Company, which built the rail line across Montana as part of the Transcontinental Railroad to the Pacific coast.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,916 square miles (7,550 km²), of which 2,899 square miles (7,510 km²) is land and 17 square miles (44 km²) (0.6%) is water.^[3]

Hill County is on the "Hi-Line" in north-central Montana. It borders Blaine County to the east, Liberty County to the west, and Canada to the north. Hill County contains Beaver Creek Park, the nation's largest county park.

It is one of the few locations in the United States to have an antipodal point on land, and its community of Rudyard is the only populated such place. The Kerguelen Islands are on the opposite side of the earth from parts of Hill County, while the antipodal points of almost all other places in the United States lie in the Indian Ocean.

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

• Liberty County - west
• Chouteau County - south
• Blaine County - east
• County of Forty Mile No. 8, Alberta - northwest
• Cypress County, Alberta - north
• Rural Municipality of Reno No. 51, Saskatchewan - northeast

Major highways

• U.S. Route 2
• U.S. Route 87

National protected areas

• Creedman Coulee National Wildlife Refuge
• Lake Thibadeau National Wildlife Refuge

Politics

In presidential elections, Hill County is a swing county. Since 1952, it has voted for the Democratic nominee nine times and the Republican nominee nine times and the nationwide winner from 1992 to 2016. The rural parts of the county vote heavily Republican, and the city of Havre is also majority Republican. However, the Rocky Boy's Reservation in the southeastern part of the county is a Democratic stronghold, having voted by as much as 84% Democratic in 2024 (down from 93% in 2020). This leads the county to be less Republican overall than multiple neighboring counties.^[4] The county swung heavily to support Barack Obama in 2008 and ever since then the county has seen a steady Republican trend. Donald Trump, who swung the county back into the Republican column in 2016, showed the strongest performance by any Republican candidate in the county's history in 2024 when he received over 56% of the vote.

United States presidential election results for Hill County, Montana^[5][6]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	3,871	56.89%	2,634	38.71%	299	4.39%
2020	3,957	55.10%	2,981	41.51%	244	3.40%
2016	3,478	53.96%	2,371	36.79%	596	9.25%
2012	3,164	46.36%	3,403	49.86%	258	3.78%
2008	2,787	42.07%	3,596	54.28%	242	3.65%
2004	3,505	52.65%	2,997	45.02%	155	2.33%
2000	3,392	51.72%	2,760	42.09%	406	6.19%
1996	2,601	36.58%	3,517	49.46%	993	13.96%
1992	2,408	29.79%	3,618	44.77%	2,056	25.44%
1988	3,467	44.50%	4,219	54.15%	105	1.35%
1984	4,635	55.24%	3,657	43.59%	98	1.17%
1980	4,448	54.99%	2,875	35.54%	766	9.47%
1976	3,274	45.10%	3,878	53.42%	108	1.49%
1972	3,759	53.06%	3,061	43.20%	265	3.74%
1968	2,970	44.53%	3,386	50.77%	313	4.69%
1964	2,101	31.81%	4,491	68.00%	12	0.18%
1960	3,163	45.73%	3,741	54.09%	12	0.17%
1956	3,415	53.24%	2,999	46.76%	0	0.00%
1952	3,474	55.44%	2,748	43.86%	44	0.70%
1948	1,645	31.75%	3,321	64.10%	215	4.15%
1944	1,646	35.25%	2,986	63.95%	37	0.79%
1940	1,842	32.79%	3,700	65.87%	75	1.34%
1936	1,014	18.37%	4,328	78.41%	178	3.22%
1932	1,589	31.44%	3,257	64.44%	208	4.12%
1928	2,336	53.37%	2,022	46.20%	19	0.43%
1924	1,110	30.60%	602	16.59%	1,916	52.81%
1920	2,220	55.44%	1,388	34.67%	396	9.89%
1916	1,709	31.73%	3,241	60.17%	436	8.10%
1912	536	26.43%	624	30.77%	868	42.80%

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1920	13,958		—
1930	13,775		−1.3%
1940	13,304		−3.4%
1950	14,285		7.4%
1960	18,653		30.6%
1970	17,358		−6.9%
1980	17,985		3.6%
1990	17,654		−1.8%
2000	16,673		−5.6%
2010	16,096		−3.5%
2020	16,309		1.3%
2024 (est.)	16,065	[7]	−1.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1790–1960,[9] 1900–1990,[10] 1990–2000,[11] 2010–2020[1]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 16,309 people living in the county.^{[citation needed]}

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 16,096 people, 6,275 households, and 4,020 families living in the county. The population density was 5.6 inhabitants per square mile (2.2/km²). There were 7,250 housing units at an average density of 2.5 per square mile (0.97/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 73.9% white, 21.7% American Indian, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 28.9% were German, 18.5% were Norwegian, 12.7% were Irish, 9.2% were English, and 3.0% were American.

Of the 6,275 households, 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.9% were non-families, and 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.10. The median age was 35.1 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,606 and the median income for a family was $55,963. Males had a median income of $44,286 versus $28,908 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,420. About 12.4% of families and 17.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.0% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

• Havre (county seat)

Town

• Hingham

Census-designated places

• Azure
• Beaver Creek
• Box Elder
• East End Colony
• Gildford
• Gildford Colony
• Havre North
• Herron
• Hilldale Colony
• Inverness
• Kremlin
• Laredo
• Parker School
• Rocky Boy West
• Rocky Boy's Agency
• Rudyard
• Saddle Butte
• St. Pierre
• Sangrey
• West Havre

Unincorporated communities

• Agency^[12]
• Goldstone^[13]
• Simpson^[14]

See also

• List of lakes in Hill County, Montana
• List of mountains in Hill County, Montana
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Hill County MT