Lake County, Montana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lake County
U.S. county
St. Ignatius Mission at St. Ignatius, Montana
Location within the U.S. state of Montana
Montana's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Montana
Founded	1923
Named for	Flathead Lake
Seat	Polson
Largest city	Polson
Area
• Total	1,654 sq mi (4,280 km2)
• Land	1,490 sq mi (3,900 km2)
• Water	164 sq mi (420 km2)  9.9%
Population  (2020)
• Total	31,134
• Density	18.823/sq mi (7.2678/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district	At-large
Montana county number 15

Lake County is a county located in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 31,134. Its county seat is Polson.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,654 square miles (4,280 km²), of which 1,490 square miles (3,900 km²) is land and 164 square miles (420 km²) (9.9%) is water. Over two-thirds (67.7%) of the county's land lies within the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Adjacent counties

• Flathead County, Montana - north
• Missoula County, Montana - east
• Sanders County, Montana - west

National protected areas

• Flathead National Forest (part)
• National Bison Range (part)
• Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge
• Pablo National Wildlife Refuge
• Swan River National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 28,746 people, 11,432 households, and 7,770 families living in the county. The population density was 19.3 inhabitants per square mile (7.5/km²). There were 16,588 housing units at an average density of 11.1 per square mile (4.3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 69.4% white, 22.0% American Indian, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.5% from other races, and 7.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 22.3% were German, 11.6% were English, 11.5% were Irish, 6.9% were Norwegian, and 3.8% were American.

Of the 11,432 households, 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.0% were non-families, and 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 41.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,274 and the median income for a family was $47,437. Males had a median income of $37,461 versus $26,637 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,164. About 15.4% of families and 21.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Polson (county seat)
• Ronan

Town

• St. Ignatius

Census-designated places

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Lake (Montana) para niños