Sanders County, Montana

• White (non-Hispanic) 11,730 88.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 466 3.5%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 33 0.2%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 60 0.5%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 641 4.8%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 331 2.5%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 15 0.1%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 9 0.1%

• Under 18 2,265 17.0%
• 18–24 947 7.1%
• 25–44 2,086 15.7%
• 45–64 3,603 27.1%
• 65 and over 4,384 33.0%

Median household income

$59,864

90% interval $53,553–$66,175

−$15,656 vs MT · 43rd of 56

Below poverty line

13.9%

90% interval 10.6%–17.2%

+3.5 pp vs MT · 21st of 56

Unemployment (12-mo)

5.9%

+2.44 pp vs. state

County GDP

$552.2M

0.7% of state

Avg. annual pay

$48,888

Establishments

554

• Education & health services 863 25.7%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 652 19.4%
• Leisure & hospitality 520 15.5%
• Public administration 282 8.4%
• Manufacturing 278 8.3%
• Construction 248 7.4%
• Professional & business services 140 4.2%
• Natural resources & mining 125 3.7%
• Financial activities 111 3.3%
• Other services 6 0.2%

The sectors listed cover 95.9% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

81.3%

+12.1 pp vs MT · 8th of 56

Median gross rent

$820

−$261 vs MT · 28th of 56

Owner-occupied

4,431

Renter-occupied

1,020

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 60% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Professional & business services, $75,747/yr) pays 6.7× the lowest (Other services, $11,356/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 6.1 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 6,150 76.2%
• Democratic 1,705 21.1%
• Other / third-party 214 2.7%

• German or other West Germanic 392 3.1%
• Spanish 158 1.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 57 0.4%
• Korean 48 0.4%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 4 0.0%
• Tagalog 3 0.0%

Households

5,451

Family households

3,524

64.6% of households

Married couples w/ children

629

17.8% of families

Single-mother families

77

2.2% of families

Veterans

1,479

13.4% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 1,810 14.6%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 846 6.8%
• Catholic 494 4.0%
• Mainline Protestant 253 2.0%

Health insured

86.3%

±2.7 pp

Uninsured

13.7%

±2.7 pp

11th of 56

With a disability

23.0%

±3 pp

3rd of 56

Bachelor's or higher

21.5%

±3.3 pp

−13.7 pp vs MT · 45th of 56

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

18.6%

90% interval 16.7%–20.5% · 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

3

27.22 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

3