# 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. Its county seat is Havre. It lies along the United States border with Canada, abutting Alberta and Saskatchewan.
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 km$^2$), of which 2,899 square miles (7,510 km$^2$) is land and 17 square miles (44 km$^2$) (0.6%) is water.
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. 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 :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | 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
### 2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 16,309 people living in the county.

### 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/km$^2$). There were 7,250 housing units at an average density of 2.5 per square mile (0.97/km$^2$). 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
* Goldstone
* Simpson