Big Horn County vs Fergus County

A side-by-side comparison of Big Horn County and Fergus County: population, income, housing, and more.

Big Horn County and Fergus County are counties in Montana. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Big Horn County has the higher population (12,963 vs 11,581 in Fergus County). Fergus County has the higher median household income ($59,731 vs $56,680 in Big Horn County). Fergus County has the higher median home value ($202,700 vs $148,200 in Big Horn County).

Population, income & housing

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
Population	12,963	11,581
Median age	32.3 yrs	45.3 yrs
Median household income	$56,680	$59,731
Median home value	$148,200	$202,700
Median gross rent	$686	$868
Housing units	4,533	6,008
Homeownership rate	68.2%	66.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.9%	23.8%
Unemployment rate	13.7%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
Population	13,387 → 12,963 (-3.2%)	11,221 → 11,581 (+3.2%)
Median household income	$49,859 → $56,680 (+13.7%)	$50,540 → $59,731 (+18.2%)
Median home value	$126,100 → $148,200 (+17.5%)	$143,000 → $202,700 (+41.7%)
Median gross rent	$586 → $686 (+17.1%)	$759 → $868 (+14.4%)

Big Horn County

Population

13,38712,963

Median household income

$49,859$56,680

Median home value

$126,100$148,200

Median gross rent

$586$686

Fergus County

Population

11,22111,581

Median household income

$50,540$59,731

Median home value

$143,000$202,700

Median gross rent

$759$868

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
Under 5	7.0%	5.3%
5 to 17	25.4%	15.4%
18 to 24	9.9%	6.0%
25 to 34	11.2%	12.0%
35 to 44	11.3%	11.1%
45 to 54	9.7%	10.3%
55 to 64	11.9%	15.2%
65 to 74	8.8%	14.5%
75 and over	4.9%	10.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
White (non-Hispanic)	27.0%	92.7%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	65.3%	1.9%
Asian	0.2%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.9%	1.6%
Hispanic or Latino	4.6%	2.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
No high school diploma	11.5%	5.8%
High school graduate	30.1%	33.5%
Some college or associate's	37.5%	37.0%
Bachelor's degree	12.8%	18.7%
Graduate or professional degree	8.1%	5.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
Drove alone	68.3%	61.6%
Carpooled	17.0%	9.8%
Public transit	0.1%	0.8%
Walked	3.3%	9.2%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.9%
Worked from home	10.7%	16.2%
Other means	0.6%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
1-unit, detached	68.8%	75.1%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	0.4%
2 to 4 units	6.7%	2.1%
5 to 19 units	3.3%	5.6%
20 or more units	2.8%	3.9%
Mobile home & other	18.0%	12.9%

Poverty & households

	Big Horn County	Fergus County
Poverty rate	23.6%	14.9%
Average household size	3.46	2.16
Mean commute (minutes)	21	19
Median year structure built	1976	1967