Hill County

Hill County, Montana — key demographics

Population size

• 16,309 (2020 Decennial Census)

Age (ACS 2019–2023)

• Median age: ~33–34 years
• Under 18: ~26%
• 65 and over: ~16%

Sex (ACS 2019–2023)

• Male: ~51%
• Female: ~49%

Race/ethnicity (ACS 2019–2023; race alone unless noted)

• White: ~69%
• American Indian/Alaska Native: ~26%
• Black: ~0.5%
• Asian: ~0.6%
• Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: ~0.1%
• Some other race: ~0.6%
• Two or more races: ~3–4%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~5%

Households and housing (ACS 2019–2023)

• Total households: ~6,300
• Average household size: ~2.5
• Family households: ~62% (married-couple families ~43%)
• Households with children under 18: ~32%
• One-person households: ~29%
• Owner-occupied housing rate: ~63%

Insights

• Small, relatively young county for Montana, with a substantial American Indian population (~1 in 4 residents).
• Household structure is family-leaning, but nearly 3 in 10 households are individuals living alone; homeownership is moderate.

Hill County, Montana (2023 est. pop. ~16,000; land area ~2,899 sq mi) has a low density of ~5.5 residents/sq mi; most connectivity is concentrated in Havre (≈60% of residents).

Digital access

• Households with a computer: ~90%
• Households with a broadband internet subscription: 78% (ACS 2018–2022). This trails the Montana average (84%), reflecting rural gaps.

Estimated email users

• ~12,800 residents actively use email (≈80% of the population), derived from local internet access levels and national email adoption among connected adults (Pew Research).

Age distribution of email users (share of users)

• Under 18: 22%
• 18–34: 29%
• 35–64: 36%
• 65+: 13% Email usage is nearly universal among connected adults; adoption is slightly lower among 65+ due to access and device gaps.

Gender split among users

• Male: ~51%
• Female: ~49% (mirrors county demographics).

Trends and insights

• Email reach is broad but bounded by rural broadband availability; Havre residents enjoy the most reliable service, while outlying areas rely more on fixed wireless/satellite with lower speeds.
• Ongoing state/federal investments are expanding fiber and fixed wireless, which should lift email penetration and reliability in the county’s sparsely populated zones.

Hill County, Montana — mobile phone usage and infrastructure snapshot

Key population baseline

• Population: 16,309 (2020 Census). Estimated adult (18+) population: ~12,400. Households: ~6,500.
• County profile: More rural than the state average and includes part of Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation; Havre is the primary population center.

User estimates (people with mobile phones)

• Adults with any mobile phone: ~11,600 (≈93–94% of adults).
• Adult smartphone users: ~10,700 (≈86% of adults).
• Youth users: ~1,900 (includes teens with phones and a smaller share of grade‑school users).
• Total county residents with a mobile phone (any age): ~13,500 (≈83% of the population). How these were derived: Counts are modeled from the 2020 Census age structure for Hill County combined with recent national/rural adoption benchmarks (e.g., Pew Research Center and ACS/NTIA patterns). They reflect rural usage levels slightly below large‑metro Montana but above very remote frontier counties.

Demographic breakdown and usage patterns

• By age:
  • 18–34: ~96–98% smartphone adoption; heaviest data use. Presence of MSU–Northern in Havre skews this cohort slightly higher than the statewide rural average.
  • 35–64: ~90–92% smartphone adoption; high mobile‑for‑work reliance in agriculture, trades, and services.
  • 65+: ~68–72% smartphone adoption; feature‑phone retention is higher than the state average, pulling down overall county smartphone rates relative to Montana statewide.
• By income:
  • Median household income is several thousand dollars below the Montana median; cost sensitivity raises prepaid plan use and boosts “smartphone‑only” home internet reliance.
  • Estimated smartphone‑only households (no fixed broadband): 20% of households (1,300). This is materially higher than the Montana statewide share (typically in the low‑ to mid‑teens).
• By race/ethnicity:
  • American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) residents make up roughly a quarter of the county (significantly above the ~6% statewide). Consistent with NTIA/ACS patterns, AIAN households in the county are more likely to be smartphone‑only and less likely to have a wireline subscription than white households. Estimated smartphone‑only rate among AIAN households: ~28–35% vs ~14–18% among white households in the county.
• Urban vs rural within the county:
  • Havre residents see near‑universal LTE and at least one 5G option; outlying farms and reservation areas show higher mobile‑only reliance and more coverage variability.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• Networks present: All three national carriers operate in the county. Low‑band spectrum (e.g., 600/700/850 MHz) underpins broad coverage; mid‑band 5G is limited.
• 5G availability: Present in and around Havre from at least one national carrier; most of the county outside Havre remains LTE‑first. Compared with the state (where 5G footprints in larger cities are expanding), Hill County’s 5G availability is meaningfully smaller by land area and population share.
• Coverage geography:
  • Strongest, most continuous service: the US‑2 corridor (the Hi‑Line) and Havre.
  • Coverage gaps/weak zones: south of Havre into the Bear Paw Mountains, portions of reservation and ranchlands off major corridors; users often fall back to low‑band LTE or extended‑range 5G.
• Capacity and backhaul:
  • Fiber backhaul is anchored along the Hi‑Line; Triangle Communications (the local cooperative) and regional fiber routes support carrier sites in and near Havre.
  • Outside the core corridor, more sites rely on long‑haul fiber spurs or microwave backhaul, which caps peak speeds and uplink capacity compared with Montana’s metro counties.
• Emergency and public‑interest connectivity:
  • First responder networks and school connectivity benefit from the county’s cooperative fiber presence; however, mobile capacity around large events and during weather incidents tightens more than in Montana’s larger markets.

How Hill County differs from Montana statewide

• Adoption mix: Overall mobile phone use is high but the smartphone share is a few points lower than the statewide average because of a larger senior share using basic phones and more rural households with cost‑driven device choices.
• Smartphone‑only dependence: At ~20% of households, smartphone‑only internet reliance is markedly higher than the state average (low‑ to mid‑teens). This reflects a combination of lower median income, rural address challenges, and the county’s higher AIAN share.
• 5G footprint and performance: 5G is available around Havre but covers a smaller share of residents and land than the state average, which is buoyed by dense deployments in Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, and Kalispell.
• Infrastructure concentration: Hill County’s mobile capacity is concentrated along US‑2; once off that corridor, signal quality and speeds fluctuate more than the statewide norm.
• Carrier competition in practice: All three national carriers are present, but practical choice (strong indoor coverage plus consistent data rates) narrows outside Havre, so effective competition is weaker than in Montana’s urban centers.

Implications and actionable insights

• Mobile is the primary on‑ramp: With roughly one in five households relying on smartphones for home internet, government services, healthcare, and education content must remain mobile‑optimized for Hill County residents.
• Targeted build‑outs matter more than averages: Adding mid‑band 5G (where backhaul exists) at Havre‑area sites and strategically along US‑2 will disproportionately improve user experience relative to the same investment in already well‑served Montana metros.
• Equity focus: Partnerships with the Chippewa‑Cree Tribe and local cooperatives to extend affordable fixed broadband and improve indoor mobile coverage will most directly reduce the county’s smartphone‑only dependence.
• Preparedness: Given capacity constraints outside Havre, public‑safety and outage‑resilience planning should continue to prioritize backup power at key sites and microwave redundancy where fiber is sparse.

Hill County, MT social media usage snapshot (2025)

Baseline and total users

• Population: 16,309 (U.S. Census 2020)
• Estimated social media users: ~11,800 (72.5% of total population; U.S. average social media penetration applied locally, DataReportal Jan 2025)

Most-used platforms among adults (share of adults who use each; Pew Research Center 2024, applied locally)

• YouTube: 83%
• Facebook: 68%
• Instagram: 47%
• Snapchat: 35%
• Pinterest: 35%
• TikTok: 33%
• LinkedIn: 30%
• WhatsApp: 29%
• X (Twitter): 27%
• Reddit: 22%

Age groups (usage patterns and leading platforms; Pew Research Center, applied to Hill County’s population profile)

• Teens (13–17): Extremely high social use. YouTube 95%, Instagram ~62%, TikTok ~67%, Snapchat ~60% are the dominant platforms (Pew Teens 2023). Daily use is the norm.
• Young adults (18–29): Near-universal social media adoption. Heaviest on YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok; Facebook is secondary but still widely used.
• Adults (30–49): Broad usage with Facebook and YouTube leading; Instagram is meaningful; TikTok/Snapchat present but smaller than among under‑30s.
• Adults (50–64): Facebook and YouTube dominate; Instagram/TikTok used by a minority.
• Seniors (65+): Facebook first, YouTube second; other platforms have limited adoption.

Gender breakdown

• Population: roughly 51% male, 49% female (ACS/Census profile)
• Among social media users (modeled from Pew usage patterns): approximately 52% female, 48% male. Women skew more to Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest; men skew more to YouTube, Reddit, and X.

Behavioral trends observed in rural Montana counties like Hill (applicable locally)

• Facebook as the community hub: Local news, school sports, events, buy/sell groups, and civic updates see strong engagement. Facebook Messenger is a primary coordination tool.
• Short‑form video growth: Reels/Shorts/TikTok drive reach for local businesses; posts featuring people and place (faces, landmarks, events) outperform generic creatives.
• YouTube for utility and lifestyle: High consumption of how‑to, equipment repair, agriculture/ranching, hunting/fishing, outdoor recreation, and local organization channels.
• Youth communication patterns: Snapchat is the default daily messenger for high‑school/college‑age residents; Instagram/TikTok shape trends and discovery.
• Timing: Engagement peaks evenings and weekends; midday dips are common with agricultural and shift-work schedules.
• Connectivity-aware behavior: Outside Havre and main corridors, variable bandwidth favors compressed, captioned video and photo carousels over very long HD uploads.
• Advertising implications: Best results from tight geo-targeting (25–50 miles), interest segments (agriculture, outdoors, motorsports, local sports), event-based posts, and boosting video/Reels on Facebook and Instagram. Consistent posting tied to local calendars (school sports, fairs, seasonal outdoor activities) lifts reach.

Notes on methodology

• County-level figures are modeled from U.S. Census (population base), Pew Research Center Social Media Use in 2024 (platform adoption shares), and DataReportal Jan 2025 (U.S. social media penetration). Percentages are applied to Hill County’s population to yield local estimates.