Garfield County is noteworthy as the site of the discovery and excavation of four of the world's dozen or so major specimens (as of 1994) of Tyrannosaurus rex. A cast of the skull of one of these dinosaurs is on display at the Garfield County Museum.[4]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,847 square miles (12,550 km2), of which 4,675 square miles (12,110 km2) is land and 172 square miles (450 km2) (3.6%) is water.[5] Its average population density of 0.1058 inhabitants per square kilometre (0.274 inhabitants/sq mi) is the third-lowest of any county outside of Alaska (behind Loving County, Texas and Esmeralda County, Nevada).
As of the 2010 census, there were 1,206 people, 532 households, and 347 families living in the county. The population density was 0.3 inhabitants per square mile (0.12/km2). There were 844 housing units at an average density of 0.2 per square mile (0.077/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 98.6% white, 0.4% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 33.3% were German, 16.9% were Irish, 15.0% were Norwegian, 13.3% were English, 10.5% were American, 8.1% were Swedish, and 7.4% were Scottish.
Of the 532 households, 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.8% were non-families, and 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 46.4 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,955 and the median income for a family was $54,375. Males had a median income of $37,813 versus $19,286 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,424. About 8.1% of families and 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
Like all of the High Plains outside of Native American counties, Garfield is an overwhelmingly Republican county. It has been the most Republican county in Montana since the 2004 United States presidential election.
The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the county was Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940,[11] and in the last seven Presidential elections no Democratic candidate has managed to receive more than 15.1 percent.[12]
Garfield County is also Republican at the local level. Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer never received more than 28 percent of the county's vote and no Democratic gubernatorial candidate has carried the county since Ted Schwinden in 1984.[13] As part of the 15th district of the Montana Senate, the county is represented by Republican Jim Peterson and as part of the 30th district of the Montana House of Representatives it is represented by Republican Dave Kasten.[14]
United States presidential election results for Garfield County, Montana[15]
United States
Montana
