Lake County, Montana

Lake County is a county located in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,134. Its county seat is Polson.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1654 sqmi, of which 1490 sqmi is land and 164 sqmi (9.9%) is water. Over two-thirds (67.7%) of the county's land lies within the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Adjacent counties

 * Flathead County - north
 * Missoula County - east
 * Sanders County - west

National protected areas

 * Bison Range (part)
 * Flathead National Forest (part)
 * Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge
 * Pablo National Wildlife Refuge
 * Swan River National Wildlife Refuge

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 31,134 people living in the county.

2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 28,746 people, 11,432 households, and 7,770 families living in the county. The population density was 19.3 PD/sqmi. There were 16,588 housing units at an average density of 11.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 69.4% white, 22.0% American Indian, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.5% from other races, and 7.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 22.3% were German, 11.6% were English, 11.5% were Irish, 6.9% were Norwegian, and 3.8% were American.

Of the 11,432 households, 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.0% were non-families, and 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.97. The median age was 41.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,274 and the median income for a family was $47,437. Males had a median income of $37,461 versus $26,637 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,164. About 15.4% of families and 21.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Cities

 * Polson (county seat)
 * Ronan

Town

 * St. Ignatius

Census-designated places

 * Arlee
 * Bear Dance
 * Big Arm
 * Charlo
 * Dayton
 * Elmo
 * Finley Point
 * Jette
 * Kerr
 * Kicking Horse
 * Kings Point
 * Lake Mary Ronan
 * Lindisfarne
 * Niarada
 * Pablo
 * Ravalli
 * Rocky Point
 * Rollins
 * Swan Lake
 * Turtle Lake
 * Woods Bay

Unincorporated communities

 * Allentown
 * Post Creek
 * Proctor
 * Round Butte
 * Salmon Prairie
 * Sipes

Education
School districts include:

K-12 (Unified):
 * Hot Springs K-12 Schools
 * St. Ignatius K-12 Schools

High school:
 * Arlee High School District
 * Bigfork High School District
 * Charlo High School District
 * Missoula High School District
 * Polson High School District
 * Ronan High School District

Elementary school:
 * Arlee Elementary School District
 * Bigfork Elementary School District
 * Charlo Elementary School District
 * Polson Elementary School District
 * Ronan Elementary School District
 * Swan Lake-Salmon Elementary School District
 * Upper West Shore Elementary School District
 * Valley View Elementary School District