Carter County, Montana

Carter County population, land area and income

Carter County had 1,399 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 3,340.5 square miles of land. It ranks 50th of 56 in Montana by population and 15th by land area. That works out to 0.4 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and in the bottom quarter nationally.

The median county-equivalent in Montana has 7,814 residents, so Carter County has 18% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $55,704 is below the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Carter County's population changed since 2020

Carter County lost 8 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 0.6%. That ranks 38th of 56 in Montana for growth. The median Montana county changed by +2.8%, and the state as a whole by +4.6%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Carter County recorded 47 births and 83 deaths, a natural change of -36. Net international migration added +0 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +21. The largest single component was natural change, which removed 36 people.

Where Carter County is

The Census internal point of Carter County is at 45.516800, -104.515300. It sits in UTM zone 13N. The map shades Montana's 56 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Carter County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Carter County

No incorporated place of 1,000 or more people has residents in Carter County. Its 1,399 residents live in smaller towns, census-designated places, or unincorporated land, which the subcounty estimates do not list at this size.

Counties bordering Carter County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 6 neighbors for Carter County, including 3 across a state line. The most populous is Custer County, MT, with 11,964 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Custer County

  11,964 people

  72 mi NW

• SD

  Butte County, SD

  10,891 people

  65 mi SE

• WY

  Crook County, WY

  7,775 people

  64 mi S

• Fallon County

  2,946 people

  56 mi N

• Powder River County

  1,734 people

  51 mi W

• SD

  Harding County, SD

  1,325 people

  51 mi E

Distance to Helena and the nearest big city

Helena is 367.1 miles WNW of Carter County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Billings, MT (population 121,483), 195.9 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Spearfish, SD (population 13,803), 78.7 miles away.

Carter County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Carter County is 30011: state code 30 for Montana plus county code 011. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $55,704.