Montana / AIANNHCE 0305 / Federally-recognized area

Blackfeet

The full tribal profile includes the report map, demographic tables, broadband tables, FCC provider sections, and interactive charts.

80.2%25/3 availability

58.1%100/20 availability

0.0%1000/100 availability

9Fixed providers

Figure 1. Location of Blackfeet within Montana, with boundary detail (inset).

About the Tribal Area

In Montana, this federally recognized tribe uses Blackfeet Indian Reservation as its main reservation, and it spans about 2372 square miles of land plus roughly 27.4 square miles of water. FCC BDC records show 9 fixed providers and 3 mobile providers serving roughly 4,361 service locations, with current availability of 80.2% at 25/3 Mbps, 58.1% at 100/20, and 1.3% at 1000/100.

Tribal Area Description

A federally recognized tribe in Montana, Blackfeet is organized around tribal lands. The land base is relevant for broadband planning due to rural service coverage and middle-mile access constraints.

Website Summary: www.blackfeetnation.com

The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is home to the 17,321-member Blackfeet Nation, one of the 10 largest tribes in the United States. The Blackfeet Water Compact is the result of a decades-long process that confirms the tribe’s Winters water rights and the tribe’s jurisdiction and authority over its water. He tells us about how the Blackfeet Nation is making use of the water rights and funding it secured through the 2016 Blackfeet Water Compact and Settlement Act to improve the efficiency of its conveyance and irrigation infrastructure. The compact provides the tribe with significant rights to water that will allow us to put our water to use and develop a long-term sustainable economy into the future. Established by treaty in 1855, the reservation is located in northwest Montana.

Table 1. Demographics

Indicator	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Population	10,629	10,664	10,706	10,375	10,309	10,199
Households	2,798	2,752	2,842	2,965	3,019	3,098
Median age	30.4	29.7	30.6	30.6	30.4	30.3
Male / Female	50.5% / 49.5%	49.9% / 50.1%	50.5% / 49.5%	49.0% / 51.0%	48.2% / 51.8%	48.2% / 51.8%
Avg. household size	3.56	3.63	3.56	3.33	3.26	3.16
Pop. density (per sq mi)	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.3
HH density (per sq mi)	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.3

Table 2. Economic & Education

Indicator	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Median household income	$32,282	$34,731	$36,447	$38,767	$39,583	$39,563
Per capita income	$15,680	$15,035	$17,873	$19,644	$20,196	$20,918
Poverty rate	32.8%	31.0%	30.8%	30.9%	33.0%	35.4%
Unemployment rate	9.1%	9.5%	10.4%	10.8%	12.2%	13.3%
HS diploma or higher	70.9%	67.5%	66.8%	67.5%	62.8%	60.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.4%	22.4%	21.5%	21.1%	17.8%	17.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Queried by AIANNHCE code. Population and household density are calculated from Census population or households divided by land area in square miles.

Table 3. Download/Upload Speeds (Mbps)

Period	Download	Upload
2019Q1	83.0 Mbps	81.4 Mbps
2019Q2	9.8 Mbps	7.3 Mbps
2019Q3	10.1 Mbps	10.0 Mbps
2019Q4	15.5 Mbps	4.9 Mbps
2020Q1	13.1 Mbps	6.1 Mbps
2020Q2	22.6 Mbps	12.7 Mbps
2020Q3	10.3 Mbps	5.5 Mbps
2020Q4	75.2 Mbps	14.0 Mbps
2021Q1	69.4 Mbps	31.7 Mbps
2021Q2	44.5 Mbps	32.1 Mbps
2021Q3	38.7 Mbps	15.8 Mbps
2021Q4	77.9 Mbps	18.9 Mbps
2022Q1	76.3 Mbps	19.1 Mbps
2022Q2	57.1 Mbps	15.5 Mbps
2022Q3	51.2 Mbps	11.9 Mbps
2022Q4	67.6 Mbps	18.0 Mbps
2023Q1	60.1 Mbps	30.2 Mbps
2023Q2	66.6 Mbps	22.5 Mbps
2023Q3	54.9 Mbps	22.0 Mbps
2023Q4	39.1 Mbps	23.0 Mbps
2024Q1	47.3 Mbps	21.7 Mbps
2024Q2	65.3 Mbps	27.3 Mbps
2024Q3	57.2 Mbps	14.4 Mbps

Table 4. Coverage by Tier (%)

Year	25/3	100/20	1 Gbps
2015	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
2016	2.5%	0.0%	0.0%
2017	2.8%	0.0%	0.0%
2018	51.5%	0.0%	0.0%
2019	57.8%	11.9%	0.0%
2020	61.8%	11.9%	0.0%
2021	80.8%	25.8%	1.0%
2022	57.7%	10.0%	1.3%
2023	66.8%	16.4%	1.4%
2024	80.2%	58.1%	0.0%

Table 5. Adoption (%)

Year	All households	Low-income households
2017	29.7%	29.5%
2018	26.6%	28.6%
2019	29.7%	34.4%
2020	26.7%	42.2%
2021	25.9%	42.6%
2022	34.9%	59.0%
2023	42.7%	65.9%
2024	45.6%	66.3%

Table 6. Current Status (2024, %)

Tier	Coverage
25/3 Mbps	80.2%
100/20 Mbps	58.1%
1 Gbps	0.0%

Table 7. Comparison with National Averages (%)

Metric	Tribal	National
25/3 Mbps	80.2%	92%
100/20 Mbps	58.1%	85%
Adoption	45.6%	78%

Sources: FCC Broadband Data Collection, Ookla Open Data Initiative, and U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates. National benchmarks are carried over from the report comparison section.

Figure 2. Speed Trends (2019–2024)

Figure 3. Availability (2015–2025)

Figure 4. Adoption (2017–2024)

Figure 5. Current Status (2024)

Figure 6. Comparison with National Averages

Figure 7. Fixed Coverage by Technology (25/3 Mbps)

Figure 8. Mobile Area Coverage

Notes: speed trends reflect quarterly mean throughput. Availability shows the share of population with access. Tooltips on the charts expose the underlying values for each series.

Table 8. Broadband Provider Summary

Metric	Value
Fixed broadband providers	9
Mobile broadband providers	3
Broadband serviceable locations	4,361

Table 9. Broadband Providers

Fixed	Mobile
3 Rivers Telephone Cooperative, Inc.	AT&T Inc.
Lumen Technologies, Inc.	T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Charter Communications	Verizon Communications Inc.
T-Mobile USA, Inc.	—
EchoStar Corporation	—
Northern Telephone Cooperative, Inc.	—
Verizon Communications Inc.	—
Siyeh Communications	—
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.	—

Table 10. Fixed Coverage by Technology (% of locations)

Technology	25/3	100/20	250/25	1 Gbps
Any Technology	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	1.1%
Fiber	22.8%	18.3%	1.1%	1.1%
Cable	1.2%	1.2%	1.2%	0.0%
Fixed Wireless	60.2%	32.3%	0.0%	0.0%
Copper (DSL)	15.8%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Satellite	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	0.0%

Table 11. Mobile Coverage (% of area)

Technology	Coverage
4G LTE	50.0%
5G-NR (Speed Tier 1)	50.0%
5G-NR (Speed Tier 2)	50.0%
Total area (sq mi)	0.211

Table 8. Coverage by Tier and Technology (% of locations)

Dec. 2022

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	66.9	57.6	57.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	75.6	55.3	12.5	9.3	4.3	3.4
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	78.0	62.3	57.6	9.3	4.3	3.4
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	4.3	3.4
Any Terrestrial	83.2	69.4	64.6	9.3	4.3	3.4
Cable	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.0
Cable/Fiber	12.5	12.5	12.5	9.3	4.3	3.4
Copper	63.5	43.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	11.6	11.6	11.6	8.4	3.4	3.4
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	59.6	50.3	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	42.5	42.5	41.4	0.0	0.0	0.0

June 2023

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	64.8	55.6	53.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	75.1	54.8	25.6	8.0	3.6	3.3
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	78.8	63.9	60.4	8.0	3.6	3.3
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	3.6	3.3
Any Terrestrial	83.0	67.8	63.1	8.0	3.6	3.3
Cable	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.0
Cable/Fiber	11.4	11.3	11.3	8.0	3.6	3.3
Copper	64.2	43.7	14.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	11.2	11.1	11.1	7.7	3.3	3.3
GSO Satellite	99.4	99.4	99.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	56.2	50.5	50.4	0.0	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	50.6	35.8	14.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Dec. 2023

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	59.6	57.6	55.0	3.1	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	73.1	50.4	29.1	7.3	2.5	1.3
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	75.0	61.6	58.6	10.2	2.5	1.3
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	2.5	1.3
Any Terrestrial	82.9	70.4	65.4	10.2	2.5	1.3
Cable	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	0.0
Cable/Fiber	13.2	13.2	13.2	7.3	2.5	1.3
Copper	60.3	37.4	16.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	12.1	12.1	12.1	6.1	1.3	1.3
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	50.4	48.6	48.3	3.1	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	42.6	41.4	29.5	0.0	0.0	0.0

June 2024

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	61.2	59.3	57.7	20.0	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	72.6	50.3	28.2	7.4	2.4	1.1
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	76.9	63.5	60.6	24.8	2.4	1.1
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	2.4	1.1
Any Terrestrial	82.6	70.3	66.2	24.8	2.4	1.1
Cable	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	0.0
Cable/Fiber	11.7	11.7	11.7	7.4	2.4	1.1
Copper	61.2	38.7	16.6	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	10.5	10.5	10.5	6.1	1.1	1.1
GSO Satellite	75.2	75.2	75.2	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	54.1	52.4	52.1	20.0	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	42.7	41.5	30.2	0.0	0.0	0.0

Dec. 2024

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	58.4	57.4	56.4	26.1	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
All Wired	72.7	52.3	34.5	16.1	2.4	1.2
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	77.3	65.3	63.5	34.9	2.4	1.2
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	2.4	1.2
Any Terrestrial	80.0	68.2	66.0	34.9	2.4	1.2
Cable	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	0.0
Cable/Fiber	20.4	20.4	20.4	16.1	2.4	1.2
Copper	60.6	38.3	16.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	19.2	19.2	19.2	14.9	1.2	1.2
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	55.4	54.4	53.9	26.1	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	4.6	4.4	3.8	0.0	0.0	0.0

June 2025

Technology	2/2	10/1	25/3	100/20	250/25	1000/100
All Fixed Wireless	63.2	61.4	60.2	32.3	0.0	0.0
All Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
All Wired	71.0	54.9	37.5	19.5	2.3	1.1
All Wired and Licensed Fixed Wireless	81.1	70.7	69.3	44.2	2.3	1.1
Any Technology	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	1.1
Any Terrestrial	83.6	73.5	71.2	44.2	2.3	1.1
Cable	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	0.0
Cable/Fiber	24.0	24.0	24.0	19.5	2.3	1.1
Copper	58.5	37.3	15.8	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fiber	22.8	22.8	22.8	18.3	1.1	1.1
GSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Licensed Fixed Wireless	60.4	58.6	58.3	32.3	0.0	0.0
NGSO Satellite	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Unlicensed Fixed Wireless	4.9	4.8	3.9	0.0	0.0	0.0

FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC), June 2025 filing vintage. Coverage values show the share of residential broadband serviceable locations by technology and speed tier across D22, J23, D23, J24, D24, and J25 filings.

Source: FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC), June 2025 Filing (J25). Fixed coverage shows the share of residential broadband serviceable locations, and mobile coverage shows the share of tribal land area.