Laurel vs Shepherd

A side-by-side comparison of Laurel and Shepherd: population, income, housing, and more.

Laurel and Shepherd are places in Montana. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Laurel has the higher population (7,198 vs 613 in Shepherd). Laurel has the higher median home value ($232,700 vs $179,700 in Shepherd). Since 2019, Laurel's population has grown faster (+5.3% vs -31.5%).

Population, income & housing

	Laurel	Shepherd
Population	7,198	613
Median age	36.6 yrs	47.1 yrs
Median household income	$66,382	—
Median home value	$232,700	$179,700
Median gross rent	$953	—
Housing units	3,250	261
Homeownership rate	57.4%	94.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.1%	26.2%
Unemployment rate	2.1%	3.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Laurel	Shepherd
Population	6,834 → 7,198 (+5.3%)	895 → 613 (-31.5%)
Median household income	$55,503 → $66,382 (+19.6%)	$111,250 → $125,179 (+12.5%)
Median home value	$174,000 → $232,700 (+33.7%)	$245,800 → $179,700 (-26.9%)
Median gross rent	$832 → $953 (+14.5%)	—

Laurel

Population

6,8347,198

Median household income

$55,503$66,382

Median home value

$174,000$232,700

Median gross rent

$832$953

Shepherd

Population

895613

Median household income

$111,250$125,179

Median home value

$245,800$179,700

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Laurel	Shepherd
Under 5	4.6%	6.4%
5 to 17	18.8%	19.4%
18 to 24	7.6%	8.8%
25 to 34	14.8%	5.1%
35 to 44	10.6%	8.6%
45 to 54	13.6%	31.5%
55 to 64	15.0%	10.3%
65 to 74	7.2%	7.2%
75 and over	7.8%	2.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Laurel	Shepherd
White (non-Hispanic)	85.4%	100.0%
Black or African American	0.5%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.5%	0.0%
Asian	2.5%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.8%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Laurel	Shepherd
No high school diploma	5.0%	5.0%
High school graduate	40.2%	26.4%
Some college or associate's	34.8%	42.4%
Bachelor's degree	15.6%	16.2%
Graduate or professional degree	4.5%	10.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Laurel	Shepherd
Drove alone	67.8%	82.4%
Carpooled	17.5%	0.0%
Public transit	2.0%	0.0%
Walked	2.3%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	10.1%	17.6%
Other means	0.2%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Laurel	Shepherd
1-unit, detached	59.4%	50.2%
1-unit, attached	4.9%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	8.3%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	13.3%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.8%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	13.3%	49.8%

Poverty & households

	Laurel	Shepherd
Poverty rate	12.3%	9.3%
Average household size	2.31	2.35
Mean commute (minutes)	18	28
Median year structure built	1973	1988