Jury Pool Profile

Garfield County, Montana

Republican +89.6 (2024)

County seat: Jordan
Judicial district: 16th Judicial District Court
Population (July 2025 estimate): 1,148; Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 1,094.

At a glance

Garfield County is a 1,148-person venue. The county population is 97% White (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $56,274, $19,246 below the MT state median of $75,520; 21.0% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The largest employment sector is Public administration, at 31.7% of covered employment, average pay $37,522/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.1%, below the 3.48% state average. The county carried the Republican presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 91% to 94% of the vote across the three.

Population: 1,094
Median household income: $69,583
Unemployment: 3.1%

Who sits on a jury?

Predominantly White

≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 97% / 0%.

Garfield County has a population of 1,094, with a median age of 43.3. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 96.7%; Black residents 0.0%.

The median household earns $56,274; 21.0% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 15.0% live below the federal poverty line.

Race & ethnicity

White (non-Hispanic) 1,058 96.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0 0.0%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
Asian (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 24 2.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 12 1.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
Some other race (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Age distribution

Median age 43.3

Under 18 272 24.9%
18–24 50 4.6%
25–44 243 22.2%
45–64 240 21.9%
65 and over 289 26.4%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Income & poverty

Median household income: $56,274; 90% interval $49,843–$62,705; −$19,246 vs MT · 50th of 56
Below poverty line: 15.0%; 90% interval 11.1%–18.9%; +4.6 pp vs MT · 13th of 56

U.S. Census SAIPE 2024

Economic context

Service-sector economy

None of the heuristic anchors fired (oil & gas <5%, healthcare/education <20%, manufacturing <15%). Top sector: Public administration (31.7%).

Public administration is the largest employment sector at 31.7% of covered employment, followed by Trade, transportation & utilities at 21.4%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.1%, below the Montana state average.

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 3.1%; −0.38 pp vs. state
County GDP: $43.0M; 0.05% of state
Avg. annual pay: $36,702
Establishments: 65

U.S. BLS 2026M07 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2025

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Public administration 102 31.7%
Trade, transportation & utilities 69 21.4%
Education & health services 54 16.8%
Leisure & hospitality 28 8.7%
Other services 10 3.1%
Professional & business services 8 2.5%
Construction 3 0.9%

The sectors listed cover 85.1% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

BLS QCEW 2025

Housing

Home ownership: 72.2%; +3.0 pp vs MT · 30th of 56
Median gross rent: $725; −$356 vs MT · 41st of 56
Owner-occupied: 312
Renter-occupied: 120

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Local economy in 3 reads

Concentrated

Top three sectors employ 70% of the county workforce. Most panelists likely share employer relationships within these sectors, surface those connections early in voir dire before any institutional-defendant or sector-specific framing.
Wide wage spread

Highest-paid sector (Construction, $91,059/yr) pays 5.1× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $18,011/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.
Small-business scale

Average establishment employs only 5.0 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

BLS QCEW 2025

Political composition

Consistently strongly Republican

Republican candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 93%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.

Garfield County was carried by the Republican candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 94.5% in 2024, 94.0% in 2020, 91.3% in 2016.

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 800 votes cast

Republican
Democratic

Republican 756 94.5%
Democratic 39 4.9%
Other / third-party 5 0.6%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Family-majority, English-speaking

Family households are 65% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 0.0% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).

0.0% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. Veterans account for 7.3% of the adult civilian population (60 individuals).

Household composition

Households: 432
Family households: 281; 65.0% of households
Married couples w/ children: 103; 36.7% of families
Single-mother families: 5; 1.8% of families
Veterans: 60; 7.3% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Religious composition

48.3% overall adherence rate

Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 210 17.9%
Evangelical Protestant 152 13.0%
Catholic 125 10.7%
Mainline Protestant 79 6.7%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 90.2%; ±3.7 pp
Uninsured: 9.8%; ±3.7 pp; 16th of 56
With a disability: 15.4%; ±4.2 pp; 32nd of 56
Bachelor's or higher: 21.0%; ±5 pp; −14.2 pp vs MT · 47th of 56
Uninsured, under 65 (2024): 15.7%; 90% interval 13.5%–17.9% · Census SAHIE

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

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Court infrastructure

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.

Court reference

Traffic safety context

Garfield totals, 2024 — the per-100k rate is based on 1 recorded death, too few to be statistically reliable

Traffic fatalities: 1; 121.65 per 100k adults (18+)
Fatal crashes: 1

NHTSA FARS 2024

Presidential vote share by year
Year	Republican	Democratic
2016	91.3%	4.8%
2020	94.0%	5.0%
2024	94.5%	4.9%