Cascade County vs Flathead County

A side-by-side comparison of Cascade County and Flathead County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Flathead County has the higher population (108,445 vs 84,601 in Cascade County). Flathead County has the higher median household income ($71,327 vs $66,203 in Cascade County). Flathead County has the higher median home value ($467,700 vs $243,300 in Cascade County).

Population, income & housing

	Cascade County	Flathead County
Population	84,601	108,445
Median age	38.3 yrs	42.1 yrs
Median household income	$66,203	$71,327
Median home value	$243,300	$467,700
Median gross rent	$902	$1,094
Housing units	39,248	50,948
Homeownership rate	70.2%	74.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.7%	36.0%
Unemployment rate	3.0%	3.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cascade County	Flathead County
Population	81,625 → 84,601 (+3.6%)	99,899 → 108,445 (+8.6%)
Median household income	$49,913 → $66,203 (+32.6%)	$56,182 → $71,327 (+27.0%)
Median home value	$179,900 → $243,300 (+35.2%)	$273,600 → $467,700 (+70.9%)
Median gross rent	$770 → $902 (+17.1%)	$855 → $1,094 (+28.0%)

Cascade County

Population

81,62584,601

Median household income

$49,913$66,203

Median home value

$179,900$243,300

Median gross rent

$770$902

Flathead County

Population

99,899108,445

Median household income

$56,182$71,327

Median home value

$273,600$467,700

Median gross rent

$855$1,094

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Cascade County	Flathead County
Under 5	5.9%	5.4%
5 to 17	16.5%	16.4%
18 to 24	8.9%	6.6%
25 to 34	14.1%	12.0%
35 to 44	12.2%	13.1%
45 to 54	10.3%	11.8%
55 to 64	12.8%	13.9%
65 to 74	11.2%	13.3%
75 and over	8.1%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cascade County	Flathead County
White (non-Hispanic)	83.2%	90.7%
Black or African American	1.4%	0.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	3.4%	0.9%
Asian	1.1%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.3%
Two or more races	5.3%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	5.1%	3.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cascade County	Flathead County
No high school diploma	6.1%	4.4%
High school graduate	31.5%	27.4%
Some college or associate's	33.6%	32.2%
Bachelor's degree	18.3%	24.2%
Graduate or professional degree	10.5%	11.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cascade County	Flathead County
Drove alone	77.9%	73.8%
Carpooled	10.3%	6.5%
Public transit	0.7%	0.1%
Walked	2.3%	2.9%
Bicycle	0.7%	0.6%
Worked from home	7.0%	14.7%
Other means	1.1%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cascade County	Flathead County
1-unit, detached	67.4%	72.6%
1-unit, attached	5.4%	5.0%
2 to 4 units	7.0%	5.7%
5 to 19 units	6.7%	4.7%
20 or more units	6.3%	3.1%
Mobile home & other	7.2%	8.9%

Poverty & households

	Cascade County	Flathead County
Poverty rate	13.2%	9.6%
Average household size	2.34	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	17	19
Median year structure built	1969	1989