Beaverhead County, Montana Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Beaverhead County, Montana, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Beaverhead County, Montana. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Beaverhead County, Montana. The estimated population of Beaverhead County, Montana is 9,391 people, with a median age of 42.4.

We can look at the total population in Beaverhead County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
9,391
 -0.67% +0.33%
2020
9,454
+0.41%
-
2019
9,415
+0.23%
-
2018
9,393
+0.35%
-
2017
9,360
 - -

Population of Beaverhead County, Montana by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
89.4%
91.3%
 -2.08%
Black/African American
0.9%
0.1%
 +800.00%
Native
1.2%
2%
 -40.00%
Hispanic
5.4%
4.2%
 +28.57%
Asian
0.1%
0.6%
 -83.33%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
2.8%
1.8%
 +55.56%
Other
0%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Beaverhead County, Montana by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 42.4 -0.47% 43 -2.27% 41.7 +0.48%
2020 42.6 -0.93% 44 +1.38% 41.5 -1.19%
2019 43 +2.14% 43.4 +2.84% 42 +0.24%
2018 42.1 -2.09% 42.2 -2.09% 41.9 -2.33%
2017 43 - 43.1 - 42.9 -

The median age of Beaverhead County, Montana gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 462 -2.06% 433 -8.01% 451 390
10 to 19 683 -24.16% 655 -0.98% 528 643
20 to 29 588 +32.42% 599 +25.87% 789 762
30 to 39 465 -6.77% 531 -11.47% 430 469
40 to 49 483 +5.01% 414 +15.3% 501 476
50 to 59 577 0.16% 731 -25.51% 577 559
60 to 69 831 -15.93% 673 +17.21% 698 790
70+ 605 +14.88% 630 +1.51% 691 637

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Beaverhead County, Montana is $51,048.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Beaverhead County.

  • Under 25
    $13,243.00
  • 25 to 44
    $50,000.00
  • 45 to 64
    $68,729.00
  • 65 and over
    $42,379.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Beaverhead County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Beaverhead County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Beaverhead County, Montana is currently $68,713.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

4.72% of households in Beaverhead County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Beaverhead County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    25.35%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    23.34%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    18.12%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.07%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    12.32%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    4.07%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.72%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Beaverhead County is $30,134.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Beaverhead County by the total population of Beaverhead County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Beaverhead County, Montana, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Beaverhead County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    11.46%
  • Bachelor's degree
    36.34%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.91%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    38.79%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.50%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Beaverhead County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Beaverhead County over the age of 16 is 8,081.

Of those people, a total of 56.30% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Beaverhead County is 54.90%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 702 25.50% 10.10%
20 to 24 years 1,011 65.90% 7.40%
25 to 29 years 540 88.00% 0.00%
30 to 34 years 445 85.20% 0.30%
35 to 44 years 979 78.00% 0.90%
45 to 54 years 926 79.30% 1.50%
55 to 59 years 662 68.30% 3.80%
60 to 64 years 714 67.80% 0.00%
65 to 74 years 1,264 27.70% 0.00%
75 years and over 838 7.50% 14.30%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Beaverhead County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 7,562 56.40% 2.40%
Black or African American 88 2.30% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 97 60.80% 0.00%
Asian 14 0.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 5 100.00% 40.00%
Other 66 51.50% 0.00%
Two or more races 249 72.30% 5.00%
Hispanic or Latino 388 60.60% 5.10%
Not Hispanic or Latino 7,277 56.00% 2.40%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Beaverhead County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Beaverhead County is 4,434, with median earnings of $31,230.00.

Women in Beaverhead County, Montana earning approximately 68.20% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 4,434 $31,230.00
Male 2,201 $38,516.00
Female 2,233 $26,255.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 556 $53,485.00
Business and Financial 126 $63,056.00
Computer and Mathematical 36 $85,500.00
Architecture and Engineering 31 $59,438.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 66 $80,208.00
Community and Social Service 81 $39,803.00
Legal 43 $58,080.00
Educational and Library 260 $25,833.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 70 $7,404.00
Healthcare Practitioners 273 $51,875.00
Healthcare Support 74 $32,944.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 16 $3,750.00
Law Enforcement 46 $51,797.00
Food Preparation and Serving 281 $15,306.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 155 $10,846.00
Personal Care and Service 136 $25,150.00
Sales 446 $25,500.00
Office and Administrative Support 560 $33,661.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 156 $25,000.00
Construction and Extraction 410 $31,930.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 91 $37,554.00
Production 236 $25,568.00
Transportation and Material Moving 134 $24,625.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 350 $53,636.00 206 $48,750.00
Business and Financial 46 $103,929.00 80 $51,739.00
Computer and Mathematical 18 $86,000.00 18 $54,688.00
Architecture and Engineering 31 $59,438.00 0 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 59 $80,938.00 7 $4,688.00
Community and Social Service 21 $155,750.00 60 $38,816.00
Legal 0 $0.00 43 $58,080.00
Educational and Library 98 $25,455.00 162 $25,909.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 36 $6,250.00 34 $19,000.00
Healthcare Practitioners 98 $76,731.00 175 $47,713.00
Healthcare Support 2 $0.00 72 $33,000.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 15 $2,499.00 1 $0.00
Law Enforcement 46 $51,797.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 89 $11,823.00 192 $16,319.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 59 $19,148.00 96 $9,470.00
Personal Care and Service 23 $39,219.00 113 $11,875.00
Sales 168 $30,608.00 278 $14,688.00
Office and Administrative Support 35 $56,979.00 525 $32,943.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 136 $25,000.00 20 $25,000.00
Construction and Extraction 395 $32,060.00 15 $30,417.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 91 $37,554.00 0 $0.00
Production 155 $40,369.00 81 $16,356.00
Transportation and Material Moving 85 $32,067.00 49 $11,571.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 3,984 households in Beaverhead County, with an average household size of 2.22 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 2,183 families in Beaverhead County with an average family size of 2.95 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 1,927 65 191 1,801
Average Household Size 2.9 4.66 3.48 1.26
Total Families 1,927 65 191 0
Average Household Size 2.9 3.58 3.32 0

Poverty

Of the 2,183 families in Beaverhead County, 8.30% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Beaverhead County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 4,968 housing units in Beaverhead County, Montana.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 3,984 80.19%
Vacant 984 19.81%

22.34% of the total 4,968 housing units in Beaverhead County are rental units. This is approximately 1,110 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 2,683 are occupied by the owner - or 54.01% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Beaverhead County is $732.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Beaverhead County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    191
  • Less than $500
    172
  • $500 to $999
    682
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    200
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    28
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    28
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    0
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in Beaverhead County is $249,000.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Beaverhead County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    401
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    158
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    211
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    347
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    540
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    739
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    232
  • $1,000,000 or more
    55

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Beaverhead County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Beaverhead County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    990
  • 1940 to 1949
    127
  • 1950 to 1959
    385
  • 1960 to 1969
    440
  • 1970 to 1979
    794
  • 1980 to 1989
    547
  • 1990 to 1999
    853
  • 2000 to 2009
    519
  • 2010 to 2013
    313
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Beaverhead County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    69
  • 1 vehicle available
    1,085
  • 2 vehicles available
    1,614
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    1,216

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Beaverhead County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Beaverhead County that commute to work in a particular way.

20 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Beaverhead County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    725
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    1,159
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    788
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    370
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    194
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    112
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    150
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    19
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    28
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    138
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    230
  • 90 or more minutes
    209

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Beaverhead County, Montana in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Beaverhead County, Montana

We have data for 6 places in Beaverhead County, Montana. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.