Missoula County, Montana

Missoula County population, land area and income

Missoula County had 122,546 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 2,593.0 square miles of land. It ranks 3rd of 56 in Montana by population and 25th by land area. That works out to 47.3 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and above the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in Montana has 7,814 residents, so Missoula County is 15.7 times that size.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $72,882 is above the national county median among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Missoula County's population changed since 2020

Missoula County gained 4,193 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 3.5%. That ranks 25th 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, Missoula County recorded 4,685 births and 4,289 deaths, a natural change of +396. Net international migration added +386 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +3,791. The largest single component was domestic migration, which added 3,791 people.

Where Missoula County is

The Census internal point of Missoula County is at 47.027300, -113.892700. It sits in UTM zone 12N. The map shades Montana's 56 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Missoula County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Missoula County

One incorporated place of 1,000+ people has residents in Missoula County, 78,204 people together, or 64% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Missoula County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Missoula with 78,204.

Counties bordering Missoula County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 9 neighbors for Missoula County, including 2 across a state line. The most populous is Flathead County, MT, with 114,527 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Flathead County

  114,527 people

  88 mi N

• Ravalli County

  48,187 people

  66 mi S

• Lake County

  33,403 people

  43 mi NNW

• ID

  Idaho County, ID

  17,912 people

  111 mi SW

• Sanders County

  13,895 people

  79 mi NW

• ID

  Clearwater County, ID

  9,151 people

  87 mi WSW

• Powell County

  7,120 people

  47 mi ESE

• Mineral County

  5,195 people

  57 mi W

• Granite County

  3,602 people

  49 mi SSE

Distance to Helena and the nearest big city

Helena is 93.8 miles ESE of Missoula County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Spokane Valley, WA (population 108,267), 162.4 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Missoula, MT (population 78,204), 12.3 miles away.

Missoula County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Missoula County is 30063: state code 30 for Montana plus county code 063. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $72,882.