Is there anything really wrong with being called a Montana redneck? Sure, every state has them. While they might be defined with a different criteria in other states, there’s plenty of them all over Big Sky Country.
In fact, there’s a debate online: Is everyone in Montana a damn redneck? You guys have more guns than kids.
Wait. What is a redneck anyways? Well, according to the official bible of literature, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a redneck is:
“A white person who lives in a small town or in the country especially in the southern U.S., who typically has a working-class job, and who is seen by others as being uneducated and having opinions and attitudes that are offensive.”
Plus, we thought why not add in a few stereotypes? Cause, you know, rednecks like to hunt, fish, drink, smoke and shoot things. And shop at Walmart.
Using that criteria, it’s not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where the most members of the Montana redneck family tree most likely live. Most of these places probably won’t surprise you.
Because, the data never lies, does it?
So, hold our beers and watch this. After analyzing all cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list as The Most Redneck Cities in Montana:
- Eureka
- West Yellowstone
- Whitehall
- Black Eagle
- Hamilton
- Superior
- Red Lodge
- Thompson Falls
- Hungry Horse
- Roundup
Read on below to see where your town ranked.
For more Montana reading, check out:
What redneck criteria did we use?
In order to rank the most redneck cities in Montana, we had to determine what criteria makes a redneck.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using Yelp and Google Maps, this is the criteria we used:
The dictionary definition categories
- Small towns
- Least amount of high school graduates
And the stereotypical categories
- Number of bars per city
- Number of mobile home parks per capita
- Number of tobacco stores per city
- Number of places to get fishing gear
- Number of guns and ammo stores per city
- Walmarts, Golden Corrals, Bass Pro Shops, and dollar stores nearby
Note: For the sake of getting reliable numbers, we counted places within a city’s border, as well as within a short driving distance.
1. Eureka
Population: 1,123
High school graduation rate: 71%
Chew factor: 1st in Montana
Trailer parks per capita: 5th
Whoo-whee, Eureka! You have the official bragging rights as being named the most redneck city in the entire state of Montana. You may now brag to your friends and share this endlessly on your Facebook walls.
Let’s see why. Whelp, first off, there ain’t many cities with more high school dropouts than in Eureka. No siree, fishing and gettin’ stuck in the mud was much more fun on a Tuesday morning for Eureka redneck teens.
The number of tobacco stores per capita – what we call the ‘chew factor’ – is the highest in Montana here. That means lotsa’ spittin’ on some sidewalks, folks. Actually, Eureka is right on the Tobacco River. Maybe they spit in the river instead?
When you consider there are a few trailer parks here and that it’s 95% white, what you’ve got is a little slice of redneck heaven way up on Route 93 near the Canadian state line.
2. West Yellowstone
Population: 1,413
Gun stores per capita: 1st in Montana
Trailer parks per capita: 1st
Fishing/bait shops per capita: 1st
Yes, siree, there’s plenty of rednecks in the boonies around the West Yellowstone area, that’s fer damn sure.
Of course, it’s a major tourist gateway, but that doesn’t mean that the high number of places to get fishing gear and guns is only due to that factor.
What you do have in West Yellowstone is a small town with a buncha’ RV parks and bars. There’s nothing more redneck than throwing back a case of Busch Lights with the boys and speculating about when rut’s gonna hit.
Then, you just head back to the camper/trailer/RV/tent and firing off a few rounds into the bug zapper with Zeke and them.
3. Whitehall
Population: 1,097
High school graduation rate: 82%
Chew factor: 2
Trailer parks per capita: 3rd
Whitehall is just about 2 Coors Lights east of Butte. In fact, there’s probably lots of Fords and Chevys driving back and forth every morning between the two towns because Butte has a Walmart.
Do the Butte folks roll their eyes at the Whitehall necks when they come in and stock up on bait every afternoon right around supper time? That wouldn’t be very kindly of them, would it?
Whitehall’s tobacco factor and number of trailer parks per capita is what really put it up high on this list.
4. Black Eagle
Population: 1,063
High school graduation rate: 72%
Trailer parks per capita: 2nd
Bars per capita: 3rd
Black Eagle is a tiny redneck spleck just north of Great Falls. You know the fishing is awesome here, since they’re right on the banks of the Missouri River.
And, whenever they need cheap groceries, they can just hop on the mower and head on into town, since Great Falls also has two dollar stores and a Walmart. So there’s no excuse for showing up to a Black Eagle pig roast empty handed.
Trailer parks, beer and fishin’. What else does a redneck need? Nothing. Nothing at all.
5. Hamilton
Population: 4,393
Bars per capita: 7th in MT
Chew factor: 8
If you wanted to drop by on the Hamilton necks, you’d head on up Route 93 south from Missoula. It’s about a sixer away from Missoula. You can’t miss ‘em. Look for the big pile of beer cans and underwear frozen to the clothes line.
Hamilton has it made for necks. They have plenty of bars, a dollar store and a trailer park. And being so far isolated means they can do pretty much whatever they hell they want to out there. Heck, a baby redneck could probably be born in Hamilton, spend his whole life there and never have to leave.
Some probably don’t.
6. Superior
Population: 1,108
Trailer parks per capita: 4th
High school graduation rate: 72%
Hot damn, rednecks got it made way up here in Superior! It’s basically redneck paradise along I-90, about 8 Bud Lights west of Missoula.
With the Clark Fork River right on their doorsteps, a neck could fly fish from his back porch. Some probably do. And, the deer, ram, bear, squirrels, coons, possums and all sorts of other critters and varmints most likely look right into your front window.
Anything with 4 legs stands no chance up in this neck of the woods. Rednecks are damn good shots, and highly motivated individuals.
7. Red Lodge
Population: 2,353
Bars per capita: 4th in MT
Fishing/bait shops per capita: 3rd in MT
Chew factor: 3
What we got here in Red Lodge are some rednecks with paychecks. These are the folks who live in the suburbs of Billings, and who likely have 9-5 places of work. That doesn’t mean they don’t getaway to do their redneck stuff. They just have to wait until the man lets ‘em off the hook first.
A lot of Montanans are weekend warriors, for sure. It’s just that these dudes down in Red Lodge are just a little more necky than most.
8. Thompson Falls
.
Population: 1,174
High school graduation rate: 78%
Trailer parks and mobile homes: 4th per capita
Bars per capita: 10th in Montana
Obviously, we’re having fun at the expense of some rednecks. But we know they’re hard working and respectful. You might not have a more hospitable place in Montana than in Thompson Falls. In fact, their city’s motto is, “Home of Western Hospitality.”
It’s also home to lotsa necks. Why else would they have trailer parks, bars and dollar stores way out here. They don’t build them places where there ain’t customers, right?
If you wanna drop in and say hello, you’d have to gas up the truck and head up Route 200 on your way into Idaho. Listen for the shotgun blasts.
And bring some duck tape. They’re out.
9. Hungry Horse
Population: 1,189
High school graduation rate: 67%
Fishing/bait shops per capita: 5th in Montana
Wow, Hungry Horse folks. Just imagine if even less than 1 in 3 of you had skipped high school. You guys might have won this whole damn thing!
We’re a little envious of you. You had your priorities straight as a kid. Riding horses, playing shoes, blowing stuff up. Instead of sitting in math class like your peers in other Montana towns, you were having some good ole’ fashioned redneck fun.
God Bless America.
10. Roundup
Population: 1,825
High school graduation rate: 73%
Chew factor: 3
Gun stores per capita: 6th in MT
Sure, they might not have the best education in the area, but the necks down in Roundup sure do know how to use a gun. And in Montana, that’s a lot more important than knowing all that literature and history stuff.
Let’s face it. If you were in trouble, or causing trouble in Roundup, you’d have some rednecks right there to deal with the situation. You’d better best hope that when you come through these parts, you act respectful or you’re gonna have some britches full of lead.
There You Have It
According to the official dictionary definition of a redneck, and based on stereotypes that the internet says are true, using science to determine the most redneck cities in a state can’t be too far off. If you’re analyzing smaller cities in Montana with blue collar workers, where people have lots of options for drinking, fishing, hunting and Walmarting, this is an accurate list.
We also wrote a story called ‘37 Pictures of Montana That Will Make You Wish You Lived There’ that you might enjoy. Click here to read it.
