Gallatin County is located in the U.S. state of Montana. With its county seat in

Bozeman Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

, it is the second-most populous county in Montana, with a population of 118,960 in the 2020 Census. The county's prominent geographical features are the Bridger mountains in the north, and the Gallatin mountains and Gallatin River in the south, named by

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

in 1805 for Albert Gallatin, the United States Treasury Secretary who formulated the Lewis and Clark Expedition. At the southern end of the county,

West Yellowstone West Yellowstone is a town in Gallatin County, Montana, United States, adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. The population was 1,272 at the 2020 census. West Yellowstone is served by Yellowstone Airport. It is part of the Bozeman, MT Microp ...

's entrance into Yellowstone National Park accounts for around half of all park visitors. Big Sky Resort, one of the largest ski resorts in the United States, lies in Gallatin and neighboring Madison counties, midway between Bozeman and West Yellowstone.

History

During the territorial era, a small patch of land known as "

Lost Dakota Lost Dakota was a small, uninhabited portion of land that was left over after the division and organization of the large former Dakota Territory into new territories in the late 19th century, which was overlooked by the federal government for ...

" existed as a remote exclave of Dakota Territory until it was transferred to Gallatin County, Montana Territory, in 1873.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.1%) is water. The county attained its present boundaries in 1978, when the former Yellowstone National Park (part) county-equivalent was dissolved and apportioned between Gallatin County and Park County. Gallatin County received of land area and of water area, whereas Park County received of land area and of water area. The geographies transferred are known now as Census Tract 14 in Gallatin County, and as Census Tract 6 in Park County.

Major highways

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

U.S. Highway 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. ...

U.S. Highway 191 U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a spur of U.S. Route 91 that has two branches. The southern branch runs for from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part of Yellowstone National Park. The northern branch runs for from the nor ...

U.S. Highway 287 U.S. Route 287 (US 287) is a north–south (physically northwest–southeast) United States highway. At long, it is the second longest three-digit U.S. Route, behind US 281. It serves as the major truck route between Fort Worth and Ama ...

Montana Highway 2 Montana Highway 2 (MT 2) is a state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of Montana. It extends from Interstate 15 (I-15) and I-90 in Butte to I-90 in Three Forks. Previously, this roadway was a part of U.S. Route&nbs ...

Montana Highway 64 Highway 64 (MT 64) is a state highway in Madison and Gallatin counties in Montana, United States. that connects the Mountain Village area of Big Sky Resort to an intersection with U.S. Route 191 (US 191) in Gallatin Canyon, a ...

* Montana Highway 84 * Montana Highway 85 * Montana Highway 86 * Montana Secondary Highway 205

Adjacent counties

* Madison County - west * Jefferson County - northwest * Broadwater County - north * Meagher County - northeast * Park County - east * Park County, Wyoming - southeast * Teton County, Wyoming - southeast * Fremont County, Idaho - southwest

National protected areas

Gallatin National Forest The Gallatin National Forest (now known as the Custer-Gallatin National Forest) is a United States National Forest located in South-West Montana. Most of the Custer-Gallatin goes along the state's southern border, with some of it a part of Nort ...

(part) * Yellowstone National Park (part)

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

2000 United States census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

, there were 67,831 people, 26,323 households, and 16,188 families living in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile (10/km²). There were 29,489 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was: * 96.20% White * 0.23% Black or African American * 0.88% Native American * 0.89% Asian * 0.06% Pacific Islander * 0.54% from other races * 1.19% from two or more races 1.54% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 23.7% were of German, 11.2% Irish, 10.4% English, 9.0% Norwegian and 5.5% American ancestry. In the county households, 29.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.80% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 6.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.50% were non-families. 24.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.94. The county population contained 22.00% under the age of 18, 18.50% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 20.60% from 45 to 64, and 8.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 108.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,120, and the median income for a family was $46,639. Males had a median income of $30,866 versus $21,330 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,074. About 6.30% of families and 12.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.50% of those under age 18 and 5.60% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, there were 89,513 people, 36,550 households, and 21,263 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 42,289 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.1% White, 1.1% Asian, 0.9% American Indian, 0.3% Black or African American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 32.2% were German, 18.1% were Irish, 14.7% were English, 9.4% were Norwegian, and 3.5% were American. Of the 36,550 households, 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 41.8% were non-families, and 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age was 32.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $50,136 and the median income for a family was $65,029. Males had a median income of $42,245 versus $31,349 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,423. About 7.4% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

As of the 2020 census, there were 118,960 people and 46,990 households living in the county. The population density was . There were 52,835 housing units in the county at an average density of . The racial make of the county was 89.0% White, 1.2% Asian, 0.9% American Indian, 0.4% Black of African American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.8% from other races, and 6.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic of Latino origin made up 5.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 25.4% were German, 14.8% were Irish, 12.4% were English, 8.8% were Norwegian, 4.6% were Italian, 4.0% were French, 3.5% were Scottish, 2.2% were Polish and 0.3% were Subsaharan African. Of the 46,990 households, 48.2% were a Married-couple family household, 23.9% were a "Male householder, no spouse present, family household", and 20.4% were a "Female householder, no spouse present, family household". The averager family size was 2.96 in the county. The median age was 33.1 years old, compared with 40.1 in Montana. The median income for a household in the county was $75,418 in the county, significantly higher than the $57,153 median household income in all of Montana. 11.9% of the population was below the poverty line, including 6.9% of those under 18 and 6.5% of those over 65.

Government and politics

Gallatin County has traditionally favored Republican presidential candidates, often by large margins. Recent changes to Gallatin County's demographics (including migration from Democratic-leaning areas, and younger voters adopting more liberal political positions) have made the county more competitive. Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton narrowly won Gallatin County in 2008 and 2016 respectively, with Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

winning in 2012. 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden won Gallatin County by the largest margin for a Democrat since

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's victory in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

Communities

Cities

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

(county seat) * Three Forks

Towns

* Manhattan *

Census-designated places

* Amsterdam (formerly Amsterdam-Churchill) * Big Sky * Bridger * Churchill (formerly Amsterdam-Churchill) *

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

* Gallatin Gateway * Gallatin River Ranch * Hebgen Lake Estates * King Arthur Park *

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...

Ponderosa Pines ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

* Sedan * Springhill * Willow Creek

Unincorporated communities

Hillman Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had b ...

* Maudlow

Notable people

* Zales Ecton, ( United States Senator) from Montana, lived in Gallatin County. *

Stan Jones (Libertarian politician) Stan Jones (born January 13, 1943) is a Libertarian Party politician who has twice run unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 2002 and 2006, and three times unsuccessfully as the Libertarian nominee for governor of Montana, in 2000, ...

from Montana, lives and works in Gallatin County.

References

External links

Gallatin County, MT Official Website

Gallatin County Emergency Management
{{Coord, 45.56, -111.17, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MT_source:UScensus1990 1865 establishments in Montana Territory Populated places established in 1865