Sheridan County

Sheridan County, Montana – key demographics

Population size

• 3,539 (2020 Census)

Age

• Median age: ~46 years (ACS 2018–2022)
• Under 5: ~5%
• Under 18: ~22%
• 65 and over: ~23%

Gender

• Male: ~51%
• Female: ~49%

Race and ethnicity (Census/ACS; Hispanic can be any race)

• White (non-Hispanic): ~92%
• American Indian and Alaska Native: ~3–4%
• Two or more races: ~2–3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~2–3%
• Black or African American, Asian, NH/PI: each <1%

Households and housing (ACS 2018–2022)

• Households: ~1,650
• Persons per household: ~2.1
• Family households: ~60% of households
• Owner-occupied housing rate: ~73%
• Housing units: ~2,150

Insights

• Small, aging population with a higher share of older adults than the U.S. overall.
• Predominantly White, with small American Indian and Hispanic populations.
• High homeownership and small household sizes consistent with rural northern Great Plains counties.

Sheridan County, MT snapshot

• Population and density: ~3,600 residents across ~1,706 square miles (≈2.1 people per sq. mile).
• Estimated email users: ≈3,000 residents use email (adults are near-universal users; most teens also maintain accounts).

Email users by age (share of users; est. counts)

• 13–17: 10% (≈300)
• 18–34: 20% (≈600)
• 35–54: 30% (≈900)
• 55–64: 17% (≈510)
• 65+: 23% (≈690)

Gender split among email users

• Male: 51% (≈1,530)
• Female: 49% (≈1,470)

Digital access and trends

• Household internet access is dominated by cable/DSL within towns (e.g., Plentywood, Medicine Lake), with fixed wireless and satellite widely used in outlying areas; fiber is available in limited town pockets and expanding incrementally.
• Low population density raises last‑mile costs, driving reliance on wireless and satellite for ranches and farms; public Wi‑Fi at libraries/schools supplements access for residents with spotty home service.
• Smartphone adoption is high among adults, sustaining always‑on email use; older adults increasingly maintain email for healthcare, banking, and government services, lifting use in the 65+ segment.

Overall insight: Despite very rural density, email penetration is strong (~3k users) with usage spread across all ages and anchored by mobile access and mixed rural broadband options.

Mobile phone usage in Sheridan County, Montana — summary with county-specific estimates, demographics, and infrastructure, highlighting how local trends diverge from statewide patterns

Headline takeaways

• Adult smartphone usage is high but below Montana’s average. An estimated 2,350–2,500 adults in Sheridan County actively use smartphones, equating to roughly 82–86% of adults, versus roughly 90% statewide.
• Household-level connectivity is more fragile than the state average. About 78–82% of households maintain a cellular data plan for a smartphone; 16–20% of households have no home internet service, versus roughly 10–12% statewide.
• 5G exists but leans heavily on low-band deployments and DSS; mid-band 5G is sparse outside Plentywood and key highway corridors, slowing the real-world performance gains compared to the state’s metro corridors (I‑90/I‑15).

User estimates (scale of use)

• Total population: 3,539 (2020 Census). Adults (18+) ≈ 2,800.
• Estimated adult smartphone users: 2,350–2,500 (about 82–86% of adults), derived by applying rural age-specific adoption rates to the county’s older age profile.
• Mobile-only internet users: about 9–12% of households rely primarily on cellular data for home access (higher than in Montana’s larger cities but lower than some very remote plains counties where fixed options are limited).

Demographic breakdown of mobile adoption (modeled from the county’s older age mix and national age-specific adoption rates)

• By age
  • 18–34: ~95% adoption; ≈ 730–780 users
  • 35–64: ~88–90% adoption; ≈ 1,200–1,300 users
  • 65+: ~60–65% adoption; ≈ 400–450 users Insight: The county’s higher share of older residents pulls overall adoption down compared with Montana’s statewide profile, where younger and college-town populations raise adoption.
• By income/education (directional)
  • Lower-income and lower-education households show higher likelihood of relying on a single smartphone data plan and lower likelihood of subscribing to fixed broadband, raising the practical importance of robust LTE/5G even where fiber exists in town.
• By household type
  • Farm/ranch and energy-sector workers display above-average use of LTE/5G hotspots and boosters on outlying properties; in-town households lean more on Wi‑Fi offload due to fiber availability.

Digital infrastructure and coverage notes

• Carriers and coverage character
  • Verizon provides the most consistent rural footprint and is the default for many work and public-safety users; AT&T is present, with stronger showings along MT‑16/MT‑5 and Band 14 (FirstNet) at select sites; T‑Mobile service is present but thins rapidly outside Plentywood/primary corridors and relies on low-band 600/700 MHz for reach.
  • 4G LTE is the workhorse across most of the land area. 5G is available in and near Plentywood and along major corridors but is predominantly low-band/DSS; mid-band 5G capacity is limited, so median speeds trail state urban averages.
• Backhaul and fiber
  • Nemont (local cooperative) has a deep fiber plant in the northeast, including Sheridan County. FTTP in town centers (e.g., Plentywood) and many farm/ranch routes improves tower backhaul and enables dependable Wi‑Fi calling where indoor cellular is weak.
• Border effects
  • Proximity to the Port of Raymond (Canada) introduces cross-border RF coordination and occasional device network-selection issues; residents near the border are more likely to rely on Wi‑Fi calling to avoid unintended roaming.
• Devices and features
  • VoLTE is universal after 3G sunsets; eSIM support is increasingly used by workers who need a secondary network for coverage gaps. Consumer-grade signal boosters are common in metal-clad buildings and remote homesteads.

How Sheridan County differs from Montana overall

• Adoption level: Lower adult smartphone adoption due to an older population and a higher share of households without home internet access. This keeps overall mobile uptake a few points below the state average.
• Network mix: A heavier reliance on low-band 5G and LTE for coverage (capacity-focused mid-band 5G is scarcer than in Montana’s urban/interstate corridors), so real-world speeds and indoor penetration are more variable than statewide norms.
• Redundancy behaviors: Higher use of Wi‑Fi calling (because fiber from the local coop is relatively strong in towns, but buildings are often RF-unfriendly) and more frequent use of multi-carrier strategies among field workers.
• Border and rural-operational considerations: Cross-border roaming risk and long-distance rural travel patterns lead residents and employers to prefer carriers with stronger highway and off-grid coverage, reinforcing Verizon/AT&T share relative to T‑Mobile.

Methodological notes and sources

• Population base: U.S. Census 2020 (Sheridan County, MT population 3,539).
• Household/device adoption: County-level percentages are derived from ACS 2018–2022 patterns for rural Montana counties (Table S2801: device and internet subscription) blended with Pew Research age-specific smartphone adoption to reflect Sheridan County’s older age distribution. Statewide comparators reflect ACS and carrier-reported coverage expansion through 2024.
• Infrastructure: FCC Broadband Data Collection filings (2023–2024) and carrier coverage disclosures indicate LTE ubiquity along MT‑5/MT‑16 and low-band 5G in and around Plentywood; Nemont public materials and regional deployments underpin fiber/backhaul observations.

Bottom line

• Sheridan County’s mobile phone usage is robust but a notch below Montana’s state average due to age and geography. LTE remains the backbone; 5G is present but primarily low-band. Local fiber depth improves calling reliability via Wi‑Fi, while vast land area and border proximity keep multi-carrier and booster strategies more common than elsewhere in the state.

Sheridan County, MT social media snapshot (best-available estimates as of 2024–2025, modeled from Pew Research Center rural-usage rates applied to the county’s ACS age–gender profile)

Topline user stats

• Estimated social media users: ~2,100–2,300 residents (about 60–66% of total population; ~75–80% of adults)
• Internet access among adults: ~90–92%; smartphone access is the primary access mode
• Gender among social media users: ~52% female, ~48% male (women over-index on Facebook and Pinterest; men over-index on YouTube and X)

Age profile of users (share of local social media users)

• 13–17: ~8–10%
• 18–29: ~15–18%
• 30–44: ~23–26%
• 45–64: ~30–33%
• 65+: ~18–21%

Platform use (share of adults who use each platform)

• YouTube: ~75–78%
• Facebook: ~64–68%
• Facebook Messenger: ~58–63%
• Instagram: ~30–35%
• Snapchat: ~24–28%
• TikTok: ~23–27%
• Pinterest: ~22–27% (primarily women 25–54)
• X/Twitter: ~14–18%
• LinkedIn: ~9–12%
• Nextdoor: ~6–9% (lower density but present in town centers like Plentywood)

Younger users (13–17) platform split (share of teens)

• YouTube: ~90%+
• Snapchat: ~75–85%
• TikTok: ~65–75%
• Instagram: ~50–60%
• Facebook: ~30–40% (account held mainly for events/teams; limited posting)

Behavioral trends to know

• Community-first use: Facebook Pages and Groups dominate for local news, school sports, weather/road conditions, emergency updates, and buy–sell–trade. Engagement spikes around winter storms, wildfires, county fair, hunting season, and school activities.
• Video wins: Short, local, face-to-camera video outperforms text and links. YouTube is a discovery and “how-to” hub (ag/weather/DIY), while Facebook-native short clips get the widest local reach.
• Messaging over posting: Messenger and Snapchat handle day-to-day coordination (families, teams, churches, clubs). Many users “lurk” more than they post.
• Time-of-day peaks: 6–8 a.m., noon hour, and 8–10 p.m. Weekends—especially Sunday evenings—see higher community and event planning activity.
• Commerce and outreach: Small businesses lean on Facebook for promos and events; Instagram performs best for visual retail and hospitality. TikTok creation is growing but still concentrated among younger residents.
• Platform gaps: X/Twitter and LinkedIn have small, niche audiences; Pinterest is a steady utility network for projects, recipes, and seasonal planning. Nextdoor use is modest but useful for neighborhood-level notices.
• Targeting efficiency: Geographic audiences are compact; radius targeting (25–50 miles) and frequency caps prevent ad fatigue. Local lookalike audiences are small; interest/behavioral targeting plus community partnerships (schools, clubs) improves reach.

Data basis

• U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) age–gender structure for Sheridan County (latest 5-year estimates)
• Pew Research Center Social Media Use (2024) community-type and age-breakouts, applied to local demographics
• Figures are planning-grade estimates; county-level platform data is not directly published, so percentages reflect rural-usage benchmarks adjusted to Sheridan County’s older-leaning age mix.