Montana Counties Map: Click All 56 Counties

How many counties are in Montana?

Montana has 56 counties. 27 states have more, and 22 have fewer.

Montana has 56 counties. Two of them share their government with a city: Butte-Silver Bow and Anaconda-Deer Lodge. Petroleum County, in the middle of the state, has the fewest people, and Yellowstone County (Billings) has the most.

How Montana's counties were formed

The first Montana Territorial Legislature created nine counties in 1865, during the gold rush. Montana then had a wave of county-busting in the 1910s and 1920s, when homesteaders split big ranch counties so new towns could become county seats. Petroleum County, created in 1925, was the 56th and last. Its seat is the small town of Winnett.

Montana regions and the counties in each

Montana is often taught in six regions. Glacier Country is the northwest, including Flathead and Missoula counties and Glacier National Park. Southwest Montana holds the old mining counties: Silver Bow (Butte), Lewis and Clark (Helena), Gallatin (Bozeman) and Madison. Yellowstone Country is Park and Sweet Grass counties, along the river north of the park. Central Montana includes Cascade (Great Falls) and Fergus. Southeast Montana centers on Yellowstone County (Billings) and Big Horn, home of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, and the vast northeast includes Valley and Roosevelt counties along the Missouri River.

Notable places on the Montana county map

Granite Peak, the state's highest point at 12,799 feet, is in Park County near the Wyoming line. Glacier National Park spans Flathead and Glacier counties along the Continental Divide. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is in Big Horn County, and Gardiner, in Park County, is the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Montana counties map: the biggest and smallest

Beaverhead County is the largest county in Montana, with 5,543 square miles of land, about 4% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island. Silver Bow County is the smallest, at 718 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Silver Bow County (718 sq mi), Deer Lodge County (737 sq mi) and Wibaux County (890 sq mi).

Which counties in Montana have the most people?

Yellowstone County has the most people, about 171,583 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 15% of everyone in Montana. The three biggest counties together hold 37% of the state's 1,137,233 people. Petroleum County has the fewest, about 525.

The most crowded is Yellowstone County, with about 65 people per square mile. The emptiest is Garfield County, with less than one person per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Helena in?

Helena, the capital of Montana, is in Lewis and Clark County. Lewis and Clark County ranks 6th of 56 by population. Montana is called the Treasure State, and it became the 41st state in 1889.

Counties on the Montana border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Montana shares a border with Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

How Montana's counties compare with other states

Montana ranks 4th among the 50 states in land area and 43rd in population. Its average county covers about 2,599 square miles and holds about 20,308 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Montana's counties are bigger than usual in size. Bigger counties mean fewer names to learn for a state this size.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Montana

• The Rocky Mountain counties fill the western third, including Missoula and Flathead.
• Lewis and Clark County holds the capital, Helena.
• Big, empty plains counties cover the east toward the Dakotas.

With 56 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the Montana county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 56 Montana counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Montana geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the West states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see montana homeschool laws, and check montana school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Montana history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.