Rosebud County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. It was established February 11, 1901, and has Montana vehicle license plate prefix 29. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,329. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Forsyth.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in Montana by land area and fifth-largest by total area. Part of Custer National Forest is located in the county.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, most of Rosebud County has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 8,329 people living in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 9,233 people, 3,395 households, and 2,318 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 4,057 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 61.3% white, 34.7% American Indian, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.5% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 25.0% were American, 19.0% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 6.9% were English, and 6.6% were Irish. Of the 3,395 households, 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.3% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.7% were non-families, and 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.32. The median age was 36.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $44,776 and the median income for a family was $56,282. Males had a median income of $52,500 versus $28,306 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,844. About 13.6% of families and 18.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 21.3% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Rosebud County leans Republican, though less so than most surrounding rural Montana counties. The Northern Cheyenne Reservation in the southern part of the county, which includes the communities of Ashland and Lame Deer, traditionally votes Democratic, while the northern part of the county, including Forsyth and Colstrip, vote solidly Republican. The county has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in only 4 elections since 1964, the last being 2008. The county has seen strong Republican trends in more recent elections, with Donald Trump's performances in the county in 2020 and 2024 being the strongest Republican victories there since 1952.

Communities

Cities

* Colstrip * Forsyth (county seat)

Census-designated places

* Ashland *

Birney A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastruc ...

* Lame Deer * Rosebud

Unincorporated communities

* Ahles * Angela * Bascom * Carterville * Hathaway * Ingomar * Jimtown * Rock Springs *

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

* Thurlow

Former communities

* Vananda

Notable people

* Heather Sharfeddin – novelist, grew up in Rosebud County *

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United Sta ...

(1861-1909) - famous western artist who lived at times, as late as 1901, on the Charles Boals ranch near Birney and the Cheyenne Indian Reservation where he hunted, painted and sketched.

Footnotes

External links

* {{Coord, 46.23, -106.72, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MT_source:UScensus1990 1901 establishments in Montana Populated places established in 1901