Fergus County vs Richland County

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

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

Fergus County has the higher population (11,581 vs 11,329 in Richland County). Richland County has the higher median household income ($69,578 vs $59,731 in Fergus County). Richland County has the higher median home value ($259,000 vs $202,700 in Fergus County).

Population, income & housing

	Fergus County	Richland County
Population	11,581	11,329
Median age	45.3 yrs	38.0 yrs
Median household income	$59,731	$69,578
Median home value	$202,700	$259,000
Median gross rent	$868	$866
Housing units	6,008	5,590
Homeownership rate	66.0%	69.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.8%	19.4%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	3.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fergus County	Richland County
Population	11,221 → 11,581 (+3.2%)	11,199 → 11,329 (+1.2%)
Median household income	$50,540 → $59,731 (+18.2%)	$67,205 → $69,578 (+3.5%)
Median home value	$143,000 → $202,700 (+41.7%)	$230,100 → $259,000 (+12.6%)
Median gross rent	$759 → $868 (+14.4%)	$826 → $866 (+4.8%)

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

Richland County

Population

11,19911,329

Median household income

$67,205$69,578

Median home value

$230,100$259,000

Median gross rent

$826$866

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fergus County	Richland County
Under 5	5.3%	5.9%
5 to 17	15.4%	19.4%
18 to 24	6.0%	7.9%
25 to 34	12.0%	13.0%
35 to 44	11.1%	12.7%
45 to 54	10.3%	10.9%
55 to 64	15.2%	13.0%
65 to 74	14.5%	10.8%
75 and over	10.1%	6.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fergus County	Richland County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	87.6%
Black or African American	0.6%	0.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.9%	0.2%
Asian	0.9%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.9%
Some other race	0.0%	0.2%
Two or more races	1.6%	5.1%
Hispanic or Latino	2.2%	5.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fergus County	Richland County
No high school diploma	5.8%	3.8%
High school graduate	33.5%	41.4%
Some college or associate's	37.0%	35.4%
Bachelor's degree	18.7%	15.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	3.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fergus County	Richland County
Drove alone	61.6%	77.9%
Carpooled	9.8%	7.8%
Public transit	0.8%	0.0%
Walked	9.2%	9.1%
Bicycle	0.9%	0.0%
Worked from home	16.2%	5.1%
Other means	1.5%	0.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fergus County	Richland County
1-unit, detached	75.1%	62.7%
1-unit, attached	0.4%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	2.1%	7.1%
5 to 19 units	5.6%	6.2%
20 or more units	3.9%	5.4%
Mobile home & other	12.9%	17.6%

Poverty & households

	Fergus County	Richland County
Poverty rate	14.9%	7.1%
Average household size	2.16	2.51
Mean commute (minutes)	19	20
Median year structure built	1967	1981