Missoula County, Montana

Geographic features

Five large valleys and two major rivers wind through this mountainous region.

Flora and fauna

Located in the Northern Rockies, Missoula County has a typical Rocky Mountain ecology. Local wildlife includes white-tailed deer, black bears, osprey, and bald eagles. During the winter months, rapid snow melt on Mount Jumbo due to its steep slope leaves grass available for grazing elk and mule deer. The rivers around Missoula provide nesting habitats for bank swallows, northern rough-winged swallows and belted kingfishers. Killdeer and spotted sandpipers can be seen foraging insects along the gravel bars. Other species include song sparrows, catbirds, several species of warblers, and the pileated woodpecker. The rivers also provide cold, clean water for native fish such as westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout. The meandering streams also attract beaver and wood ducks.^[12]

Native riparian plant life includes sandbar willows and cottonwoods, and Montana's state tree, the ponderosa pine. Other native plants include wetland species such as cattails and beaked-sedge as well as shrubs and berry plants like Douglas hawthorn, chokecherry, and western snowberries.^[12] Missoula is also home to several noxious weeds which multiple programs have tried to eliminate. Notable ones include Dalmatian toadflax, spotted knapweed, leafy spurge, St. John's wort, and sulfur cinquefoil.^[13] The Norway maples that line many of Missoula's older streets have also been declared an invasive species.^[14]

Climate

Missoula County has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk), with cold and moderately snowy winters, hot and dry summers, and spring and autumn are short and crisp in between. Winter conditions are usually far milder than much of the rest of the state due to its western position within the state. However, the mildness is also induced by the dampness, as unlike much of the rest of the state, precipitation is not at a strong minimum during winter. Winter snowfall averages 43 inches (109 cm), with most years seeing very little of it from April to October. Summers see very sunny conditions, with highs peaking at 84 °F (28.9 °C) in July. However, temperature differences between day and night are large during this time and from April to October, due to the relative aridity.^[15][16]

National protected areas

Major highways

Transit

• Jefferson Lines
• Mountain Line

Adjacent counties

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 117,922 people living in the county.^{[citation needed]}

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 109,299 people, 45,926 households, and 25,931 families residing in the county. The population density was 42.1 inhabitants per square mile (16.3/km²). There were 50,106 housing units at an average density of 19.3 per square mile (7.5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.7% white, 2.6% American Indian, 1.1% Asian, 0.4% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.4% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 26.1% were German, 17.8% were Irish, 12.3% were English, 7.3% were Norwegian, and 5.4% were American.

Of the 45,926 households, 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 43.5% were non-families, and 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age was 34.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,887 and the median income for a family was $58,302. Males had a median income of $39,603 versus $30,069 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,343. About 8.8% of families and 17.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

School districts

Missoula County is home to 18 school districts (13 Elementary, 2 Secondary, and 3 Unified).^[28]

K-12 (Unified) districts include:^[28]

• Alberton K-12 Schools
• Florence-Carlton K-12 Schools
• Frenchtown K-12 Schools

High school districts include:^[28]

• Arlee High School District
• Missoula High School District

Elementary school districts include:^[28]

• Arlee
• Bonner
• Clinton
• DeSmet
• Hellgate
• Lolo
• Missoula
• Potomac
• Seeley Lake
• Sunset
• Swan Valley
• Target Range
• Woodman

Colleges and universities

Missoula County is home to the University of Montana and the Missoula College - University of Montana.

City

• Missoula (county seat)

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities