Prairie 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

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 so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,088, making it the fifth-least populous county in Montana. 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 ...

Terry Terry is a unisex diminutive nickname for the given names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence, Terrance (masculine). People Male * Terry A. Canales, American politician * Terry A. Doughty (born 1959), American district ...

. Prairie County was created by the

Montana Legislature The Montana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of 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 t ...

in 1915 out of parts of Custer, Dawson, and Fallon Counties. The name was selected in a contest and reflects the predominant landscape of the region. The county was the site of the 1938 Custer Creek train wreck that killed 47 people and injured 75.

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.

Major highways

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

* Montana Highway 253

Adjacent counties

* McCone County - north * Dawson County - northeast * Wibaux County - east * Fallon County - southeast * Custer County - south * Garfield County - west

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,088 people living in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,179 people, 551 households, and 342 families in the county. The population density was . There were 673 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.4% white, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 44.7% 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 ...

, 18.6% were Norwegian, 14.1% were American, 11.8% were Irish, and 9.5% were English. Of the 551 households, 18.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.9% were non-families, and 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.67. The median age was 53.6 years. The median income for a household in the county was $34,896 and the median income for a family was $43,500. Males had a median income of $28,438 versus $21,964 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,296. About 12.4% of families and 16.9% 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 34.6% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voters in Prairie County have voted for Republican Party candidates in all national elections since 1948 (as of 2024).

Communities

Town

(county seat)

Census-designated place

* Fallon

Other communities

* Crow Rock * McCloud''McCloud MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 5, 2019)
/ref> * Mildred * Saugus *

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. Adding (or subtracting) 0 to any number leaves that number unchanged; in mathematical terminology, 0 is the additive identity of the integers, rational numbers, real numbers, and compl ...

References

External links

Montana Association of Counties - Prairie County website

Terry Chamber of Commerce
{{Coord, 46.85, -105.37, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MT_source:UScensus1990 1915 establishments in Montana Populated places established in 1915