Golden Valley County, Montana

Golden Valley County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 823, making it the third-least populous county in Montana. Its county seat is Ryegate.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1176 sqmi, of which 1175 sqmi is land and 1.0 sqmi (0.08%) is water. It is Montana's fifth-smallest county by area.

Major highways

 * US 12.svg U.S. Highway 12
 * MT-3.svg Montana Highway 3

Adjacent counties

 * Fergus County – north
 * Musselshell County – east
 * Yellowstone County – southeast
 * Stillwater County – south
 * Sweet Grass County – southwest
 * Wheatland County – west

National protected area

 * Lewis and Clark National Forest (part)

Politics
The county has usually favored Republican candidates. The 2016 Democratic candidate only received 71 county votes, the lowest ever for a major party in the county in a presidential election. The last Democrat to win there was Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory.

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 823 people living in the county.

2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 884 people, 363 households, and 239 families residing in the county. The population density was 0.8 PD/sqmi. There were 476 housing units at an average density of 0.4 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 94.0% white, 1.0% American Indian, 0.7% Asian, 2.1% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 38.9% were German, 19.5% were English, 18.4% were Irish, 10.1% were Polish, 9.0% were American, 7.3% were Danish, 6.4% were Dutch, and 6.2% were Norwegian.

Of the 363 households, 20.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.2% were non-families, and 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.68. The median age was 48.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,726 and the median income for a family was $48,750. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $27,938 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,319. About 3.4% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.

Towns

 * Lavina
 * Ryegate (county seat)

Census-designated place

 * Golden Valley Colony

Unincorporated communities

 * Barber
 * Belmont
 * Franklin
 * Lavina