Fergus County vs Jefferson County

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

Fergus 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.

Jefferson County has the higher population (12,501 vs 11,581 in Fergus County). Jefferson County has the higher median household income ($76,576 vs $59,731 in Fergus County). Jefferson County has the higher median home value ($408,000 vs $202,700 in Fergus County).

Population, income & housing

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
Population	11,581	12,501
Median age	45.3 yrs	47.3 yrs
Median household income	$59,731	$76,576
Median home value	$202,700	$408,000
Median gross rent	$868	$886
Housing units	6,008	5,388
Homeownership rate	66.0%	83.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.8%	32.7%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	2.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
Population	11,221 → 11,581 (+3.2%)	11,917 → 12,501 (+4.9%)
Median household income	$50,540 → $59,731 (+18.2%)	$69,646 → $76,576 (+10.0%)
Median home value	$143,000 → $202,700 (+41.7%)	$282,700 → $408,000 (+44.3%)
Median gross rent	$759 → $868 (+14.4%)	$788 → $886 (+12.4%)

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

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)

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
Under 5	5.3%	4.4%
5 to 17	15.4%	15.8%
18 to 24	6.0%	6.3%
25 to 34	12.0%	9.0%
35 to 44	11.1%	11.9%
45 to 54	10.3%	13.1%
55 to 64	15.2%	16.6%
65 to 74	14.5%	15.8%
75 and over	10.1%	7.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	91.3%
Black or African American	0.6%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.9%	1.2%
Asian	0.9%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.6%	4.2%
Hispanic or Latino	2.2%	2.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
No high school diploma	5.8%	6.0%
High school graduate	33.5%	26.2%
Some college or associate's	37.0%	35.1%
Bachelor's degree	18.7%	21.2%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	11.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
Drove alone	61.6%	72.2%
Carpooled	9.8%	11.7%
Public transit	0.8%	0.2%
Walked	9.2%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.9%	0.1%
Worked from home	16.2%	11.9%
Other means	1.5%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
1-unit, detached	75.1%	83.7%
1-unit, attached	0.4%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	2.1%	2.3%
5 to 19 units	5.6%	1.2%
20 or more units	3.9%	0.3%
Mobile home & other	12.9%	10.2%

Poverty & households

	Fergus County	Jefferson County
Poverty rate	14.9%	6.3%
Average household size	2.16	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	19	22
Median year structure built	1967	1989