akashic
1876–2024
Custer County, Montana
Custer County·Montana

Custer County has voted Republican for as long as anyone can remember.

Miles City anchors a wide-open rangeland county that votes in near-uniform margins

18762024·38 elections
Custer County, Montana · J.B. Chandler · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+49
in 2024
Archetype
Republican loyalist
since the recent cycles
Population
11,961
2024 ACS
Most similar
Stutsman County
ND · similarity 1.00
12 precincts · 5,797 votes cast
Trump · R+49
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−48.7%
1,3854,2085,797
2020R
−45.9%
1,5144,2055,860
2016R
−47.8%
1,1763,6575,185
2012R
−28.7%
1,8333,3735,365
2008R
−14.3%
2,2673,0475,452
2004R
−33.0%
1,6303,2975,048
2000R
−33.7%
1,5013,1564,905
1996R
−6.6%
2,1152,4675,329
1992R
−2.4%
1,9682,1055,611
1988R
−12.2%
2,3433,0075,462
1984R
−32.0%
1,9823,8795,919
1980R
−29.4%
1,8223,5335,816
1976R
−12.3%
2,4253,1205,647
1972R
−29.3%
1,8753,4865,506
1968R
−22.0%
1,7602,8314,876
1964D
+9.6%
2,7902,3025,101
1960R
−10.3%
2,3932,9435,351
1956R
−16.6%
2,3173,2405,557
1952R
−25.5%
2,0503,4615,535
1948D
+12.1%
2,3591,8454,263
1944D
+5.3%
2,0381,8303,897
1940D
+15.8%
2,7822,0174,834
1936D
+38.5%
3,1961,3814,713
1932D
+23.3%
2,7291,6754,528
1928R
−28.6%
1,3862,5033,906
1924R
−32.9%
4121,6543,778
1920R
−33.5%
1,1272,3473,637
1916D
+22.6%
2,6021,6154,359
1912D
+11.6%
1,0686953,203
1908R
−27.4%
5319671,594
1904R
−47.2%
2858241,141
1900R
−34.4%
4779801,464
1896R
−3.3%
6767231,404
1892R
−11.1%
5376801,291
1888
No data
1884
No data
1880
No data
1876
No data
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
100.0%
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. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
0.0%
speak English only
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
16.5%
Other Christian
13.0%
Mainline Protestant
5.3%
Pentecostal & Holiness
2.0%
Methodist
2.0%
Baptist
0.9%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Custer County's economy runs on cattle, agriculture, and the regional services that Miles City provides to a sprawling rural hinterland. Presidential margins here have exceeded 40 points Republican in each of the last several cycles.

The Republican margin in Custer County reached its widest at forty-nine points in 2024. The margin in 2024 was forty-nine points, in line with the county's deep historical pattern.

Custer County's loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $70,605, a 90% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 11,961 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 Stutsman County and Roseau County.