Lake County, Montana Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Lake 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 Lake County, Montana. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Lake County, Montana. The estimated population of Lake County, Montana is 31,030 people, with a median age of 42.7.

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

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
31,030
+2.13%
+5.12%
2020
30,383
+1.23%
-
2019
30,013
+0.8%
-
2018
29,774
+0.87%
-
2017
29,518
 - -

Population of Lake 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
64.5%
65.5%
 -1.53%
Black/African American
0.4%
0.2%
 +100.00%
Native
21.6%
23.6%
 -8.47%
Hispanic
4.5%
4.3%
 +4.65%
Asian
0.6%
0.3%
 +100.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
8.2%
5.9%
 +38.98%
Other
0.1%
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 Lake 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 42.7 +0.95% 41.6 +2.21% 44.1 -0.9%
2020 42.3 0% 40.7 +0.25% 44.5 -0.22%
2019 42.3 0% 40.6 +0.25% 44.6 +0.9%
2018 42.3 +1.2% 40.5 +1.25% 44.2 +1.84%
2017 41.8 - 40 - 43.4 -

The median age of Lake 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 2,057 -6.64% 2,005 -8.96% 1,912 1,830
10 to 19 2,042 +7.63% 1,794 +10.52% 2,200 1,987
20 to 29 1,509 +14.07% 1,508 +7.12% 1,732 1,616
30 to 39 1,693 -7.84% 1,674 +7.21% 1,560 1,792
40 to 49 1,315 +18.86% 1,526 +3.3% 1,576 1,571
50 to 59 1,960 0.22% 2,063 -6.18% 1,959 1,937
60 to 69 2,096 +6.81% 2,446 +4.92% 2,239 2,561
70+ 1,923 +16.04% 1,907 +19.63% 2,250 2,308

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Lake County, Montana is $53,154.00.

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 Lake County.

  • Under 25
    $25,139.00
  • 25 to 44
    $52,323.00
  • 45 to 64
    $66,848.00
  • 65 and over
    $44,531.00

Average Household Income

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

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Lake 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 Lake County, Montana is currently $72,873.00.

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.

4.19% of households in Lake 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 Lake County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    23.71%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    22.88%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    20.24%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    11.09%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    12.79%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    5.10%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.19%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Lake County is $28,371.00.

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

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Lake 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 Lake 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
    12.73%
  • Bachelor's degree
    38.05%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.90%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    35.14%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.18%

Employment

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

The total population of Lake County over the age of 16 is 24,521.

Of those people, a total of 56.60% 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 Lake County is 53.20%.

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 1,420 51.60% 13.60%
20 to 24 years 1,670 76.90% 5.90%
25 to 29 years 1,678 78.80% 11.90%
30 to 34 years 1,613 74.00% 12.90%
35 to 44 years 3,258 77.70% 4.10%
45 to 54 years 3,378 81.80% 2.40%
55 to 59 years 2,146 62.80% 3.90%
60 to 64 years 2,486 57.30% 3.70%
65 to 74 years 4,215 26.90% 4.10%
75 years and over 2,657 5.80% 22.10%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Lake 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 17,255 54.10% 3.00%
Black or African American 91 78.00% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 4,993 60.00% 12.90%
Asian 190 75.80% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 48 68.80% 9.10%
Other 252 66.30% 15.60%
Two or more races 1,692 67.60% 13.40%
Hispanic or Latino 863 70.30% 5.40%
Not Hispanic or Latino 17,061 53.90% 3.00%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Lake 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 Lake County is 13,038, with median earnings of $31,849.00.

Women in Lake County, Montana earning approximately 73.00% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 13,038 $31,849.00
Male 6,698 $36,477.00
Female 6,340 $26,636.00

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 1,437 $47,287.00
Business and Financial 338 $42,969.00
Computer and Mathematical 112 $78,542.00
Architecture and Engineering 192 $77,125.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 134 $51,827.00
Community and Social Service 548 $40,754.00
Legal 120 $150,471.00
Educational and Library 972 $36,455.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 150 $63,155.00
Healthcare Practitioners 731 $50,417.00
Healthcare Support 656 $19,681.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 341 $27,250.00
Law Enforcement 100 $80,357.00
Food Preparation and Serving 878 $10,577.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 600 $14,468.00
Personal Care and Service 363 $11,791.00
Sales 1,330 $31,250.00
Office and Administrative Support 1,324 $24,688.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 171 $33,361.00
Construction and Extraction 877 $33,689.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 325 $36,023.00
Production 473 $32,028.00
Transportation and Material Moving 567 $41,969.00

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 880 $50,610.00 557 $42,950.00
Business and Financial 160 $46,250.00 178 $38,214.00
Computer and Mathematical 103 $79,479.00 9 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 182 $87,833.00 10 $0.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 90 $63,000.00 44 $31,667.00
Community and Social Service 115 $51,302.00 433 $39,841.00
Legal 92 $150,978.00 28 $53,500.00
Educational and Library 254 $41,042.00 718 $34,942.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 30 $41,563.00 120 $63,988.00
Healthcare Practitioners 157 $65,250.00 574 $46,000.00
Healthcare Support 119 $9,864.00 537 $20,374.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 286 $29,100.00 55 $6,146.00
Law Enforcement 68 $85,625.00 32 $37,727.00
Food Preparation and Serving 409 $11,453.00 469 $9,875.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 363 $16,835.00 237 $4,949.00
Personal Care and Service 111 $11,641.00 252 $11,905.00
Sales 561 $41,152.00 769 $26,414.00
Office and Administrative Support 281 $27,137.00 1,043 $22,123.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 115 $26,250.00 56 $33,444.00
Construction and Extraction 834 $33,529.00 43 $45,855.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 325 $36,023.00 0 $0.00
Production 398 $33,452.00 75 $17,321.00
Transportation and Material Moving 487 $49,583.00 80 $16,364.00

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 11,756 households in Lake County, with an average household size of 2.59 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 7,957 families in Lake County with an average family size of 3.12 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 6,038 593 1,326 3,799
Average Household Size 3.07 3.88 3.55 1.29
Total Families 6,038 593 1,326 0
Average Household Size 3.03 3.56 3.34 0

Poverty

Of the 7,957 families in Lake County, 12.50% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Lake 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 16,430 housing units in Lake County, Montana.

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

Total Percentage
Occupied 11,756 71.55%
Vacant 4,674 28.45%

17.74% of the total 16,430 housing units in Lake County are rental units. This is approximately 2,914 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 8,517 are occupied by the owner - or 51.84% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Lake County is $768.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Lake 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
    325
  • Less than $500
    591
  • $500 to $999
    1,682
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    490
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    89
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    32
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    24
  • $3,000 or more
    6

Property Value

The median value of a property in Lake County is $289,300.00.

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

  • Less than $50,000
    747
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    492
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    800
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    826
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    1,578
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    2,262
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    1,383
  • $1,000,000 or more
    429

Property Age

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

  • 1939 or earlier
    1,438
  • 1940 to 1949
    717
  • 1950 to 1959
    1,028
  • 1960 to 1969
    1,244
  • 1970 to 1979
    2,849
  • 1980 to 1989
    2,204
  • 1990 to 1999
    2,851
  • 2000 to 2009
    2,914
  • 2010 to 2013
    1,154
  • 2014 or later
    31

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 Lake County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    438
  • 1 vehicle available
    2,758
  • 2 vehicles available
    4,500
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    4,060

Commuting to Work

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

21 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Lake 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
    957
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    1,864
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    2,228
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    2,050
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    1,133
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    658
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    860
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    308
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    159
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    639
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    533
  • 90 or more minutes
    213

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Lake 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 Lake County, Montana

We have data for 24 places in Lake County, Montana. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.