Lake County, Montana

• White (non-Hispanic) 21,037 64.6%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1,397 4.3%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 71 0.2%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 215 0.7%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 3,324 10.2%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 6,376 19.6%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 58 0.2%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 83 0.3%

• Under 18 7,167 22.0%
• 18–24 2,305 7.1%
• 25–44 7,118 21.9%
• 45–64 8,077 24.8%
• 65 and over 7,894 24.2%

Median household income

$61,452

90% interval $55,845–$67,059

−$14,068 vs MT · 38th of 56

Below poverty line

14.9%

90% interval 12.2%–17.6%

+4.5 pp vs MT · 15th of 56

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.2%

+0.74 pp vs. state

County GDP

$1.4B

1.73% of state

Avg. annual pay

$54,190

Establishments

1,273

• Education & health services 2,262 23.3%
• Public administration 1,842 19.0%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 1,634 16.9%
• Leisure & hospitality 1,033 10.7%
• Manufacturing 753 7.8%
• Construction 664 6.8%
• Professional & business services 558 5.8%
• Financial activities 287 3.0%
• Other services 286 3.0%
• Natural resources & mining 221 2.3%
• Information 127 1.3%
• Unclassified 25 0.3%

Home ownership

75.0%

+5.8 pp vs MT · 22nd of 56

Median gross rent

$901

−$180 vs MT · 19th of 56

Owner-occupied

9,438

Renter-occupied

3,138

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 59% 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 (Professional & business services, $100,040/yr) pays 3.6× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $28,087/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 7.6 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 9,880 58.4%
• Democratic 6,510 38.5%
• Other / third-party 520 3.1%

• Spanish 491 1.6%
• German or other West Germanic 287 0.9%
• Tagalog 127 0.4%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 124 0.4%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 23 0.1%
• Chinese 15 0.0%

Households

12,576

Family households

8,070

64.2% of households

Married couples w/ children

1,829

22.7% of families

Single-mother families

624

7.7% of families

Veterans

2,418

9.5% of civilians 18+

• Catholic 2,955 9.5%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 2,641 8.5%
• Evangelical Protestant 2,249 7.2%
• Mainline Protestant 1,348 4.3%

Health insured

85.5%

±1.7 pp

Uninsured

14.5%

±1.7 pp

10th of 56

With a disability

15.7%

±1.3 pp

31st of 56

Bachelor's or higher

31.5%

±1.9 pp

−3.7 pp vs MT · 14th of 56

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

15.6%

90% interval 14.1%–17.1% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

20th 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

Polson, Thompson Falls

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

9

35.44 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

8