Dawson County vs Stillwater County

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

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

Stillwater County has the higher population (9,052 vs 8,874 in Dawson County). Stillwater County has the higher median household income ($81,503 vs $70,953 in Dawson County). Stillwater County has the higher median home value ($355,600 vs $187,400 in Dawson County).

Population, income & housing

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
Population	8,874	9,052
Median age	43.5 yrs	47.4 yrs
Median household income	$70,953	$81,503
Median home value	$187,400	$355,600
Median gross rent	$823	$968
Housing units	4,377	4,657
Homeownership rate	72.4%	80.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.5%	29.8%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
Population	9,017 → 8,874 (-1.6%)	9,466 → 9,052 (-4.4%)
Median household income	$58,596 → $70,953 (+21.1%)	$64,645 → $81,503 (+26.1%)
Median home value	$160,600 → $187,400 (+16.7%)	$255,500 → $355,600 (+39.2%)
Median gross rent	$784 → $823 (+5.0%)	$791 → $968 (+22.4%)

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

Stillwater County

Population

9,4669,052

Median household income

$64,645$81,503

Median home value

$255,500$355,600

Median gross rent

$791$968

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
Under 5	5.1%	4.2%
5 to 17	16.0%	16.9%
18 to 24	8.5%	6.0%
25 to 34	11.9%	9.1%
35 to 44	12.4%	10.9%
45 to 54	11.2%	12.2%
55 to 64	14.3%	15.7%
65 to 74	12.1%	16.2%
75 and over	8.6%	8.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
White (non-Hispanic)	90.9%	92.3%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.3%	0.4%
Asian	0.0%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.0%
Some other race	0.7%	0.3%
Two or more races	3.3%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino	3.4%	3.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
No high school diploma	5.7%	6.9%
High school graduate	24.5%	33.2%
Some college or associate's	44.3%	30.1%
Bachelor's degree	15.9%	21.2%
Graduate or professional degree	9.6%	8.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
Drove alone	81.8%	61.9%
Carpooled	5.3%	21.4%
Public transit	0.1%	3.3%
Walked	5.3%	4.1%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.2%
Worked from home	6.8%	7.9%
Other means	0.6%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
1-unit, detached	75.6%	83.5%
1-unit, attached	2.1%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	4.4%	2.3%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	1.1%
20 or more units	3.9%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	11.4%	10.8%

Poverty & households

	Dawson County	Stillwater County
Poverty rate	8.8%	8.3%
Average household size	2.28	2.31
Mean commute (minutes)	20	28
Median year structure built	1970	1985