Golden Valley County vs Petroleum County

A side-by-side comparison of Golden Valley County and Petroleum County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Golden Valley County has the higher population (840 vs 401 in Petroleum County). Petroleum County has the higher median household income ($59,318 vs $57,353 in Golden Valley County). Golden Valley County has the higher median home value ($203,900 vs $173,700 in Petroleum County).

Population, income & housing

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
Population	840	401
Median age	54.8 yrs	51.5 yrs
Median household income	$57,353	$59,318
Median home value	$203,900	$173,700
Median gross rent	$769	$769
Housing units	473	295
Homeownership rate	80.7%	77.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.0%	27.1%
Unemployment rate	1.5%	0.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
Population	728 → 840 (+15.4%)	453 → 401 (-11.5%)
Median household income	$43,875 → $57,353 (+30.7%)	$51,250 → $59,318 (+15.7%)
Median home value	$106,100 → $203,900 (+92.2%)	$181,300 → $173,700 (-4.2%)
Median gross rent	$818 → $769 (-6.0%)	$490 → $769 (+56.9%)

Golden Valley County

Population

728840

Median household income

$43,875$57,353

Median home value

$106,100$203,900

Median gross rent

$818$769

Petroleum County

Population

453401

Median household income

$51,250$59,318

Median home value

$181,300$173,700

Median gross rent

$490$769

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
Under 5	4.8%	4.0%
5 to 17	9.8%	9.2%
18 to 24	5.7%	5.0%
25 to 34	7.6%	3.0%
35 to 44	14.5%	14.0%
45 to 54	8.3%	20.9%
55 to 64	21.1%	16.0%
65 to 74	18.5%	16.7%
75 and over	9.8%	11.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
White (non-Hispanic)	88.9%	99.3%
Black or African American	0.7%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.5%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.1%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	6.5%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
No high school diploma	10.9%	1.2%
High school graduate	33.9%	44.5%
Some college or associate's	36.3%	27.1%
Bachelor's degree	14.3%	17.7%
Graduate or professional degree	4.6%	9.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
Drove alone	49.5%	57.1%
Carpooled	11.0%	7.4%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	22.8%	22.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	11.8%	13.4%
Other means	4.9%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
1-unit, detached	78.9%	77.3%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.7%
2 to 4 units	0.0%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	2.3%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	18.8%	22.0%

Poverty & households

	Golden Valley County	Petroleum County
Poverty rate	18.0%	6.5%
Average household size	2.26	2.01
Mean commute (minutes)	34	14
Median year structure built	1971	1978