This is a list of the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

. There are 56 counties in the state. Montana has two consolidated city-counties— Anaconda with Deer Lodge County and

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a F ...

with Silver Bow County. The portion of

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is border ...

that lies within Montana was not part of any county until 1978, when part of it was nominally added to Gallatin County, and the rest of it to Park County. Montana's postal abbreviation is MT and its

FIPS state code FIPS state codes were numeric and two-letter alphabetic codes defined in U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard Publication ("FIPS PUB") 5-2 to identify U.S. states and certain other associated areas. The standard superseded FIPS PUB 5-1 ...

is 30.

Counties

The

Federal Information Processing Standard The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, America ...

(FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided for each county. The FIPS code for each county links to

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

data for that county.

Previous counties

St. Charles County, Missouri Territory St. Charles County is in the central eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 405,262, making it Missouri's third-most populous county. Its county seat is St. Charles. The county was organized O ...

created October 1, 1812, moved 1813 *

Vancouver County, Oregon Territory Clark County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 503,311, making it Washington's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Vancouver. It was the fir ...

created August 13, 1848, renamed

Clarke County, Oregon Territory Clark County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 503,311, making it Washington's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Vancouver. It was the fir ...

September 3, 1849 * Clarke County, Washington Territory created March 2, 1853 *

Walla Walla County, Washington Territory Walla Walla County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 62,584. The county seat and largest city is Walla Walla. The county was formed on April 25, 1854 and is named after the Wall ...

April 25, 1854 *

Spokane County, Washington Territory Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second larges ...

created January 29, 1858, abolished January 19, 1864 *

Missoula County, Washington Territory Missoula County is located in the State of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 117,922, making it Montana's third-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Missoula. The county was founded in 1860. Missoula ...

created December 14, 1860, abolished May 26, 1864 *

Shoshone County, Washington Territory Shoshone County is a county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,169. The largest city is Kellogg. The county was established in 1864, named for the Native American Shoshone tribe. Shoshone County is c ...

created January 9, 1861, abolished March 3, 1863 *

Stevens County, Washington Territory Stevens County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington along the Canada–US border. At the 2020 census, its population was 46,445. As of July 2021, the population was estimated to be 47,426. The county seat and largest city is ...

created January 20, 1863 * Shoshone County, Idaho Territory created February 4, 1864

Extinct counties

* Edgerton County, Montana Territory created February 2, 1865, renamed

Lewis and Clark County, Montana Territory Lewis and Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 70,973. Its county seat is Helena, the state capital. The numerical designation for Lewis and Clark County (used in the issua ...

March 1, 1868. *

Big Horn County, Montana Territory Custer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,867. Its county seat is Miles City. The county was established on June 2, 1865 as one of the nine original counties of the Territ ...

created February 2, 1865, renamed

Custer County, Montana Territory Custer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,867. Its county seat is Miles City. The county was established on June 2, 1865 as one of the nine original counties of the Territo ...

February 16, 1877.

County equivalents

* Yellowstone National Park (Montana Territory) created March 1, 1872, divided between

Park County, Montana Park County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. At the 2020 census, the population was 17,191. Its county seat is Livingston. A small part of Yellowstone National Park is in the southern part of the county. History The Territorial Leg ...

and

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

in 1978.

References

{{U.S. Counties

*List

Counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Counties

Previous counties

Extinct counties

County equivalents

See also

References