Big Horn County vs Jefferson County

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

Big Horn County and Jefferson 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 12,501 in Jefferson County). Jefferson County has the higher median household income ($76,576 vs $56,680 in Big Horn County). Jefferson County has the higher median home value ($408,000 vs $148,200 in Big Horn County).

Population, income & housing

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
Population	12,963	12,501
Median age	32.3 yrs	47.3 yrs
Median household income	$56,680	$76,576
Median home value	$148,200	$408,000
Median gross rent	$686	$886
Housing units	4,533	5,388
Homeownership rate	68.2%	83.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.9%	32.7%
Unemployment rate	13.7%	2.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
Population	13,387 → 12,963 (-3.2%)	11,917 → 12,501 (+4.9%)
Median household income	$49,859 → $56,680 (+13.7%)	$69,646 → $76,576 (+10.0%)
Median home value	$126,100 → $148,200 (+17.5%)	$282,700 → $408,000 (+44.3%)
Median gross rent	$586 → $686 (+17.1%)	$788 → $886 (+12.4%)

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

Jefferson County

Population

11,91712,501

Median household income

$69,646$76,576

Median home value

$282,700$408,000

Median gross rent

$788$886

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
Under 5	7.0%	4.4%
5 to 17	25.4%	15.8%
18 to 24	9.9%	6.3%
25 to 34	11.2%	9.0%
35 to 44	11.3%	11.9%
45 to 54	9.7%	13.1%
55 to 64	11.9%	16.6%
65 to 74	8.8%	15.8%
75 and over	4.9%	7.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
White (non-Hispanic)	27.0%	91.3%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	65.3%	1.2%
Asian	0.2%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.9%	4.2%
Hispanic or Latino	4.6%	2.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
No high school diploma	11.5%	6.0%
High school graduate	30.1%	26.2%
Some college or associate's	37.5%	35.1%
Bachelor's degree	12.8%	21.2%
Graduate or professional degree	8.1%	11.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
Drove alone	68.3%	72.2%
Carpooled	17.0%	11.7%
Public transit	0.1%	0.2%
Walked	3.3%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.1%
Worked from home	10.7%	11.9%
Other means	0.6%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
1-unit, detached	68.8%	83.7%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	6.7%	2.3%
5 to 19 units	3.3%	1.2%
20 or more units	2.8%	0.3%
Mobile home & other	18.0%	10.2%

Poverty & households

	Big Horn County	Jefferson County
Poverty rate	23.6%	6.3%
Average household size	3.46	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	21	22
Median year structure built	1976	1989