County · Montana
Hill County
Population 16,167 · Census Bureau Vintage-2025 estimate
Last scored Jul 13, 2026 · Data may be stale
Composite · JPAS tier readings
Power
Power reads 97 of 100, sourced evidence. Power measures grid capacity, interconnection-queue depth, generation mix, retail price and substation density. Interconnection-queue depth is an estimated roll-up (EST); queue vintage PJM 2026-04-28, CAISO 2025-02-12.
Politics
Regulatory reads 100 of 100, sourced evidence. Regulatory measures air-quality designation under the Clean Air Act and commercial permitting activity. Regulatory is evidenced by air-quality designation and permitting activity; a county absent from EPA's nonattainment list reads as attainment. Attainment here is by absence of an EPA designation; EPA's county list is complete, so absence reads as attainment.
Community reads 53 of 100, sourced evidence. Community measures enacted moratoria, pending legislation and farmland share as signals of local consent.
Incentives reads 25 of 100, estimated evidence. Incentives measures state program baselines and disclosed awards for data-center and industrial projects.
Resources
Water reads 45 of 100, sourced evidence. Water measures drinking-water system health, basin stress, streamflow and groundwater conditions.
Real estate / site reads 73 of 100, sourced evidence. Real estate / site measures developable land share, convertible sites, substation hosting and permit velocity.
Environmental reads 53 of 100, sourced evidence. Environmental measures FEMA hazard risk across riverine, coastal, wind, wildfire and related perils.
Labor reads 74 of 100, sourced evidence. Labor measures electrician depth, wages, unemployment and prevailing-wage floors in the county labor market.
Connectivity
Connectivity is not yet activated as a brief section; the Network tier reading is shown.
Network reads 82 of 100, sourced evidence. Network measures broadband availability, fiber and middle-mile programs, and exchange-point proximity.
Density · JDS
Density · Minimal · 11 of 100
Data-center density is absent in this county (JDS Minimal, 11 of 100). County grain: computed from facilities, construction and permitted projects resolved to this county.
Trajectory · JTS
- ModeledJTS-01 Trajectory rate of change — rising — Modeled — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- SpeculativeJTS-02 Inflection points — rising — Speculative — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- ModeledJTS-03 Trajectory volatility — rising — Modeled — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- SpeculativeJTS-04 Momentum — falling — Speculative — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
- SpeculativeJTS-05 Forecast confidence decay — rising — Speculative — covers 2026 Posture-series attributes were computed over an eight-week window that spans Faraday methodology changes; they partly measure recompute churn, not jurisdiction behaviour.
Windows held: 2026. Direction and evidence label only; horizons extend only as data lands.
Water & Cooling Readiness
Water posture inferred from statewide data; no jurisdiction-level water measurement is available.
Gauge data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey
JPS Score Breakdown · Jurisdiction Posture Score
Per-dimension posture values are not yet published for this jurisdiction.
Infrastructure Map
Faraday's Read
Hill County, Montana currently carries a Favorable posture tier with a composite score of 70, placing it in reasonably solid standing among tracked jurisdictions, though the underlying dimensional breakdown behind that score is not itemized in the available data. The attribute-evidence picture is moderate in quality and medium in completeness, with the strongest, sourced-confidence coverage concentrated in environmental, labor, network, power, and water categories, while incentive and general regulatory attributes are represented by only a single estimated-confidence data point each. This split suggests the physical and infrastructure-adjacent picture for the county is better documented than its policy and incentive landscape, so claims about tax treatment or regulatory friction should be treated as thin rather than established. No data-center development density score is available, and the record shows zero known facilities and zero operational megawatts, indicating Hill County has no built or tracked data center footprint to date. The posture forecast points to a stable direction over the coming six months, though that forecast itself carries no confidence rating, so it should be read as a tentative baseline expectation rather than a firm signal.
Gilbert Faraday · Jul 17, 2026
Recent Signals
No signal events in the past 30 days for this jurisdiction.