During the Edo period, all of Kai Province was tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate.

During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period on April 1, 1889, the rural district of Kitakoma was formed.

The modern city of Hokuto was established on November 1, 2004, from the merger of the towns of Hakushū, Nagasaka, Sutama and Takane, and the villages of Akeno, Mukawa and Ōizumi (all from Kitakoma District).

Hokuto has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 22 members.

The economy of Hokuto is primarily agricultural, with seasonal tourism, precision manufacturing and food processing playing secondary roles.