Does This Isolated Montana County Hold the Secret to Long Life?

They drink, smoke, and live to 85+ in this isolated Montana County.

Okay, the data presented in this story defies all logic and well-established medical knowledge. Everyone knows that excessive drinking can cause a litany of health problems and that smoking is generally considered worse. That said, we're not here to judge any of our fellow Montanans who drink or smoke or do whatever, honestly. MYOB has always been our thing, right?

Liberty County Montanans have an average life expectancy of 85.

Occasionally, I'll find something refreshing on X. Today it was @TownsUsa, which posts about a new town or place every hour, every single day, with an interesting factoid about the town or community. Today's tidbit featured Liberty County, MT, a sparsely populated county bordering Canada.

Why do residents in desolate Liberty County, MT live so long?

Who knows. Using readily available public health data, the query in the X post included: US counties with more than 20 percent of the residents who smoke and binge drink, with a life expectancy of 85 years or more. There is only ONE county in the entire United States that popped up. Liberty County, MT, where nearly a quarter of the residents smoke and binge drink.

According to the CDC, the average life expectancy in the United States is 76.4 years (male and female combined). That means the good folks in Chester, Joplin, and Whitlash Montana are getting almost an extra decade on God's green earth. INCLUDING nearly one-fourth (24%) that drink too much and smoke cigarettes. Wild.

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Farmers and ranchers are tough.

It's a stereotype because it's true. It takes a certain kind of person to live on Montana's Hi-Line. I swear everyone was larger than me when I visited a northcentral Montana fair in 2022. We're talking big, burly guys who can toss hay bales and tractor tires around like empty beer cans. I'm six feet tall, and I felt like a shrimp.

If you are from Liberty County or currently reside in Liberty County, MT, I'd love to hear your secrets to a long life. Email me at Michael.Foth@townsquaremedia.com.