Dawson County vs Deer Lodge County

A side-by-side comparison of Dawson County and Deer Lodge County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Deer Lodge County has the higher population (9,512 vs 8,874 in Dawson County). Dawson County has the higher median household income ($70,953 vs $49,533 in Deer Lodge County). Deer Lodge County has the higher median home value ($209,700 vs $187,400 in Dawson County).

Population, income & housing

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
Population	8,874	9,512
Median age	43.5 yrs	49.6 yrs
Median household income	$70,953	$49,533
Median home value	$187,400	$209,700
Median gross rent	$823	$661
Housing units	4,377	5,506
Homeownership rate	72.4%	69.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.5%	22.3%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	4.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
Population	9,017 → 8,874 (-1.6%)	9,106 → 9,512 (+4.5%)
Median household income	$58,596 → $70,953 (+21.1%)	$41,820 → $49,533 (+18.4%)
Median home value	$160,600 → $187,400 (+16.7%)	$131,300 → $209,700 (+59.7%)
Median gross rent	$784 → $823 (+5.0%)	$557 → $661 (+18.7%)

Dawson County

Population

9,0178,874

Median household income

$58,596$70,953

Median home value

$160,600$187,400

Median gross rent

$784$823

Deer Lodge County

Population

9,1069,512

Median household income

$41,820$49,533

Median home value

$131,300$209,700

Median gross rent

$557$661

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
Under 5	5.1%	3.5%
5 to 17	16.0%	8.9%
18 to 24	8.5%	7.8%
25 to 34	11.9%	12.1%
35 to 44	12.4%	12.7%
45 to 54	11.2%	12.5%
55 to 64	14.3%	17.0%
65 to 74	12.1%	16.4%
75 and over	8.6%	9.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
White (non-Hispanic)	90.9%	89.9%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.3%	1.7%
Asian	0.0%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.1%
Some other race	0.7%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.3%	3.7%
Hispanic or Latino	3.4%	3.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
No high school diploma	5.7%	7.2%
High school graduate	24.5%	38.2%
Some college or associate's	44.3%	32.3%
Bachelor's degree	15.9%	15.5%
Graduate or professional degree	9.6%	6.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
Drove alone	81.8%	76.2%
Carpooled	5.3%	6.2%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	5.3%	5.7%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.8%	7.7%
Other means	0.6%	4.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
1-unit, detached	75.6%	77.8%
1-unit, attached	2.1%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	4.4%	7.9%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	4.6%
20 or more units	3.9%	3.2%
Mobile home & other	11.4%	4.7%

Poverty & households

	Dawson County	Deer Lodge County
Poverty rate	8.8%	18.1%
Average household size	2.28	1.91
Mean commute (minutes)	20	21
Median year structure built	1970	1954