Liberty County, Montana

Liberty County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,959. Its county seat is Chester. The decision to separate the future Liberty County area from the previous Hill and Chouteau counties was carried in a 1919 vote; the organization was authorized to commence in the following February.

The southwestern corner of Liberty County holds Tiber Dam, a popular tourist and recreation area.

Geography
Liberty County is on the state's north line, so that it shares the US border with Canada. It abuts the Canadian province of Alberta. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1447 sqmi, of which 1430 sqmi is land and 17 sqmi (1.2%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * Toole County – west
 * Pondera County – southwest
 * Chouteau County – south
 * Hill County – east
 * County of Forty Mile No. 8, Alberta – north

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 1,959 people living in the county.

2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 2,339 people, 822 households, and 537 families living in the county. The population density was 1.6 PD/sqmi. There were 1,043 housing units at an average density of 0.7 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 98.2% white, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 55.4% were German, 24.1% were Norwegian, 14.5% were Irish, 9.9% were English, and 1.4% were American.

Of the 822 households, 23.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.5% were married couples living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.7% were non-families, and 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age was 44.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,212 and the median income for a family was $44,957. Males had a median income of $35,788 versus $30,714 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,097. About 12.4% of families and 19.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.6% of those under age 18 and 15.6% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census record
Researchers William P. O'Hare and Kenneth M. Johnson described the county as typical of the northern Great Plains in being very thinly settled, almost fully dependent on agriculture, and lacking in urban areas. They noted that income can fluctuate substantially from year to year, depending on rainfall (which affects harvest yields) as well as grain and cattle prices, and that the 2000 Census recorded low incomes in 1999 after several years of drought. Also, the presence of Hutterite colonies in the county depresses per capita incomes because Hutterite families have significantly more children than the general population.

Town

 * Chester (county seat)

Census-designated places

 * Eagle Creek Colony
 * Joplin
 * Riverview Colony
 * Sage Creek Colony
 * Whitlash

Other unincorporated communities

 * Hill
 * Lothair
 * Tiber