diff --git a/changelog_entry.yaml b/changelog_entry.yaml
index e69de29b..e4ec408d 100644
--- a/changelog_entry.yaml
+++ b/changelog_entry.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+- bump: patch
+  changes:
+    fixed:
+    - Gracefully handle data download 429s.
diff --git a/policyengine/utils/huggingface.py b/policyengine/utils/huggingface.py
index 3c8f2e68..09684074 100644
--- a/policyengine/utils/huggingface.py
+++ b/policyengine/utils/huggingface.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from huggingface_hub import hf_hub_download
 import os
 from getpass import getpass
+import time
 
 
 def download(
@@ -16,12 +17,33 @@ def download(
         )
         # Optionally store in env for subsequent calls in same session
         os.environ["HUGGING_FACE_TOKEN"] = token
-
-    return hf_hub_download(
-        repo_id=repo,
-        repo_type="model",
-        filename=repo_filename,
-        local_dir=local_folder,
-        revision=version,
-        token=token,
-    )
+    try:
+        result = hf_hub_download(
+            repo_id=repo,
+            repo_type="model",
+            filename=repo_filename,
+            local_dir=local_folder,
+            revision=version,
+            token=token,
+        )
+    except:
+        # In the case of a 429 Too Many Requests error, retry up to 5 times, waiting 30 seconds
+        # between attempts
+        for i in range(5):
+            try:
+                result = hf_hub_download(
+                    repo_id=repo,
+                    repo_type="model",
+                    filename=repo_filename,
+                    local_dir=local_folder,
+                    revision=version,
+                    token=token,
+                )
+                break
+            except Exception as e:
+                if i == 4:
+                    raise e
+                print(f"Error downloading {repo_filename} from {repo}: {e}")
+                print("Retrying in 30 seconds...")
+                time.sleep(30)
+    return result