Custer County, Montana

• White (non-Hispanic) 10,648 89.0%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 409 3.4%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 4 0.0%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 54 0.5%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 608 5.1%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 217 1.8%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 21 0.2%

• Under 18 2,369 19.8%
• 18–24 924 7.7%
• 25–44 3,004 25.1%
• 45–64 3,182 26.6%
• 65 and over 2,482 20.8%

Median household income

$68,101

90% interval $61,292–$74,910

−$7,419 vs MT · 18th of 56

Below poverty line

11.2%

90% interval 8.4%–14.0%

+0.8 pp vs MT · 39th of 56

Unemployment (12-mo)

2.9%

−0.57 pp vs. state

County GDP

$695.6M

0.89% of state

Avg. annual pay

$52,184

Establishments

542

• Trade, transportation & utilities 1,386 26.3%
• Education & health services 1,194 22.7%
• Leisure & hospitality 720 13.7%
• Public administration 548 10.4%
• Financial activities 385 7.3%
• Professional & business services 361 6.9%
• Construction 234 4.4%
• Other services 187 3.6%
• Natural resources & mining 118 2.2%
• Manufacturing 68 1.3%
• Information 35 0.7%
• Unclassified 25 0.5%

Home ownership

69.9%

+0.7 pp vs MT · 35th of 56

Median gross rent

$893

−$188 vs MT · 20th of 56

Owner-occupied

3,520

Renter-occupied

1,518

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 63% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $75,738/yr) pays 3.5× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $21,848/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 9.7 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 4,208 72.6%
• Democratic 1,385 23.9%
• Other / third-party 204 3.5%

• Spanish 70 0.6%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 53 0.5%
• German or other West Germanic 34 0.3%
• Vietnamese 25 0.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 19 0.2%
• Tagalog 11 0.1%
• Arabic 11 0.1%
• Chinese 4 0.0%

Households

5,038

Family households

3,119

61.9% of households

Married couples w/ children

1,009

32.4% of families

Single-mother families

207

6.6% of families

Veterans

864

9% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 1,997 16.8%
• Catholic 1,962 16.5%
• Mainline Protestant 427 3.6%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 331 2.8%

Health insured

92.3%

±1.5 pp

Uninsured

7.7%

±1.5 pp

24th of 56

With a disability

21.3%

±2.1 pp

6th of 56

Bachelor's or higher

27.0%

±2.7 pp

−8.2 pp vs MT · 23rd of 56

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

11.2%

90% interval 9.9%–12.5% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

16th Judicial District Court

Judges

1 (District Court judges per district (general civil + criminal jurisdiction); Justice Court judges (limited jurisdiction) separate. Vintage 2026 courts.mt.gov; counts cross-checked against MCA § 3-5-102 statutory allocations. Several single-judge rural districts (5th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd) carry one District Court judgeship each.)

Court seats

Baker, Broadus, Ekalaka, Forsyth, Hysham, Jordan, Miles City

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

3

31.28 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

3