11,498 people (2024 Census estimate, +9.4% since 2020)
2,048 square miles of land · 6 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
12 active community water systems list Carbon County in the area they serve, reporting 4,827 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| RED LODGE WATER DEPT groundwater · local government · MT0000314 | 2,000 served |
| BRIDGER TOWN OF groundwater · local government · MT0000165 | 750 served |
| JOLIET TOWN OF groundwater · local government · MT0000256 | 600 served |
| FROMBERG TOWN OF groundwater · local government · MT0000222 | 498 served |
| ROBERTS WUA CARBON CO WATER AND SEWER groundwater · local government · MT0000317 | 300 served |
| BELFRY CARBON CO WATER AND SEWER DIST groundwater · local government · MT0000460 | 205 served |
| BEARCREEK MUNICIPAL WATER SYS groundwater · local government · MT0000063 | 200 served |
| VWA SERVICES buys groundwater · private · MT0005134 | 93 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 27 people were held in Carbon County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 421 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 27.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
9 school districts have their office in Carbon County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $4.2 million — $4 million to run schools, about $12,104 per student, plus $141,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.5 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $645,000 federal. Long-term debt: $2.3 million.
Spent $3.1 million — $2.9 million to run schools, about $10,874 per student, plus $198,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.5 million local (mostly property tax), $1.5 million state, $386,000 federal. Long-term debt: $85,000.
Spent $4.4 million — $3.9 million to run schools, about $19,357 per student, plus $307,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.4 million state, $435,000 federal. Long-term debt: $10 million.
Spent $3.4 million — $2.9 million to run schools, about $16,625 per student, plus $126,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.7 million local (mostly property tax), $1.3 million state, $97,000 federal. Long-term debt: $9.2 million.
Spent $2 million — $1.9 million to run schools, about $13,921 per student, plus $78,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1 million local (mostly property tax), $1.1 million state, $15,000 federal. Long-term debt: $100,000.
Spent $2.5 million — $2.3 million to run schools, about $19,082 per student, plus $21,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $666,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.3 million state, $564,000 federal. Long-term debt: $44,000.
Spent $2.9 million — $2.8 million to run schools, about $26,255 per student, plus $55,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.2 million local (mostly property tax), $1.1 million state, $665,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1.4 million.
Spent $2.3 million — $1.7 million to run schools, about $27,159 per student, plus $612,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $672,000 local (mostly property tax), $1.3 million state, $167,000 federal. Long-term debt: $16,000.
And 1 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Carbon County about $16.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
81 bridges in Carbon County: 31 in good condition, 46 fair, and 4 poor (4.9%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| S 78 FH 83 over RED LODGE CREEK · built 1953 | 481 vehicles a day |
| WILLOW CREEK RD over WILLOW CREEK 061 · built 1942 | 100 vehicles a day |
| W PRYOR RD over ELBOW CREEK 037 · built 1964 | 100 vehicles a day |
| 2-LANE ROAD over ROCK CREEK · built 1970 | 50 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $12.8 million of work in Carbon County in fiscal 2025, about $1,217 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Montana are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Carbon County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Carbon County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Montana: the state government and every county in Montana.
Nearby counties: Stillwater County (35 mi) · Park County, WY (57 mi) · Sweet Grass County (60 mi) · Yellowstone County (61 mi) · Big Horn County, WY (70 mi) · Big Horn County (74 mi).