Fergus County vs Sanders County

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

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

Sanders County has the higher population (12,936 vs 11,581 in Fergus County). Fergus County has the higher median household income ($59,731 vs $54,035 in Sanders County). Sanders County has the higher median home value ($323,800 vs $202,700 in Fergus County).

Population, income & housing

	Fergus County	Sanders County
Population	11,581	12,936
Median age	45.3 yrs	54.6 yrs
Median household income	$59,731	$54,035
Median home value	$202,700	$323,800
Median gross rent	$868	$774
Housing units	6,008	6,789
Homeownership rate	66.0%	80.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.8%	21.6%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fergus County	Sanders County
Population	11,221 → 11,581 (+3.2%)	11,681 → 12,936 (+10.7%)
Median household income	$50,540 → $59,731 (+18.2%)	$40,823 → $54,035 (+32.4%)
Median home value	$143,000 → $202,700 (+41.7%)	$228,200 → $323,800 (+41.9%)
Median gross rent	$759 → $868 (+14.4%)	$627 → $774 (+23.4%)

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

Sanders County

Population

11,68112,936

Median household income

$40,823$54,035

Median home value

$228,200$323,800

Median gross rent

$627$774

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fergus County	Sanders County
Under 5	5.3%	3.8%
5 to 17	15.4%	13.4%
18 to 24	6.0%	6.1%
25 to 34	12.0%	6.8%
35 to 44	11.1%	9.9%
45 to 54	10.3%	10.5%
55 to 64	15.2%	17.1%
65 to 74	14.5%	20.1%
75 and over	10.1%	12.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fergus County	Sanders County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	89.0%
Black or African American	0.6%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.9%	2.4%
Asian	0.9%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.6%	4.1%
Hispanic or Latino	2.2%	3.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fergus County	Sanders County
No high school diploma	5.8%	7.8%
High school graduate	33.5%	37.7%
Some college or associate's	37.0%	33.0%
Bachelor's degree	18.7%	15.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	6.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fergus County	Sanders County
Drove alone	61.6%	67.8%
Carpooled	9.8%	9.6%
Public transit	0.8%	0.1%
Walked	9.2%	5.1%
Bicycle	0.9%	1.5%
Worked from home	16.2%	14.5%
Other means	1.5%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fergus County	Sanders County
1-unit, detached	75.1%	80.2%
1-unit, attached	0.4%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	2.1%	2.4%
5 to 19 units	5.6%	1.3%
20 or more units	3.9%	0.4%
Mobile home & other	12.9%	15.2%

Poverty & households

	Fergus County	Sanders County
Poverty rate	14.9%	15.1%
Average household size	2.16	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	19	24
Median year structure built	1967	1989