Pondera County vs Powell County

A side-by-side comparison of Pondera County and Powell County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Powell County has the higher population (7,029 vs 6,012 in Pondera County). Powell County has the higher median household income ($63,432 vs $53,500 in Pondera County). Powell County has the higher median home value ($255,700 vs $179,200 in Pondera County).

Population, income & housing

	Pondera County	Powell County
Population	6,012	7,029
Median age	41.2 yrs	43.3 yrs
Median household income	$53,500	$63,432
Median home value	$179,200	$255,700
Median gross rent	$806	$770
Housing units	2,753	2,969
Homeownership rate	66.7%	69.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.5%	19.0%
Unemployment rate	6.5%	4.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Pondera County	Powell County
Population	5,994 → 6,012 (+0.3%)	6,854 → 7,029 (+2.6%)
Median household income	$51,151 → $53,500 (+4.6%)	$54,667 → $63,432 (+16.0%)
Median home value	$131,900 → $179,200 (+35.9%)	$143,100 → $255,700 (+78.7%)
Median gross rent	$652 → $806 (+23.6%)	$688 → $770 (+11.9%)

Pondera County

Population

5,9946,012

Median household income

$51,151$53,500

Median home value

$131,900$179,200

Median gross rent

$652$806

Powell County

Population

6,8547,029

Median household income

$54,667$63,432

Median home value

$143,100$255,700

Median gross rent

$688$770

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Pondera County	Powell County
Under 5	6.5%	3.4%
5 to 17	17.0%	11.2%
18 to 24	7.4%	6.7%
25 to 34	10.5%	13.4%
35 to 44	12.2%	16.6%
45 to 54	9.8%	12.3%
55 to 64	15.0%	15.3%
65 to 74	12.3%	12.4%
75 and over	9.3%	8.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Pondera County	Powell County
White (non-Hispanic)	79.0%	87.4%
Black or African American	0.0%	1.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	16.0%	4.1%
Asian	0.3%	1.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.5%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	2.3%	2.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Pondera County	Powell County
No high school diploma	13.2%	6.9%
High school graduate	30.1%	45.9%
Some college or associate's	37.2%	28.2%
Bachelor's degree	16.1%	13.8%
Graduate or professional degree	3.4%	5.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Pondera County	Powell County
Drove alone	71.9%	75.6%
Carpooled	8.4%	11.3%
Public transit	0.1%	0.2%
Walked	12.1%	4.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.5%	7.5%
Other means	2.1%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Pondera County	Powell County
1-unit, detached	74.5%	75.9%
1-unit, attached	1.2%	0.6%
2 to 4 units	4.2%	4.1%
5 to 19 units	4.4%	2.6%
20 or more units	3.9%	0.7%
Mobile home & other	11.9%	16.1%

Poverty & households

	Pondera County	Powell County
Poverty rate	22.9%	6.3%
Average household size	2.59	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	18	19
Median year structure built	1964	1965