8,731 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.1% since 2020)
2,372 square miles of land · 4 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.
10 active community water systems list Dawson County in the area they serve, reporting 7,419 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| GLENDIVE CITY OF surface water · local government · MT0000229 | 4,873 served |
| FOREST PARK WATER RSID 24 groundwater · local government · MT0000233 | 1,200 served |
| HIGHLAND PARK UTILITIES ASSN groundwater · private · MT0000570 | 500 served |
| CASITAS DEL RIO buys surface water · private · MT0005060 | 216 served |
| RICHEY TOWN OF groundwater · local government · MT0000316 | 180 served |
| CASITAS DEL MESA MHP groundwater · private · MT0002738 | 180 served |
| WHISPERING TREES MOBILE PARK groundwater · private · MT0000408 | 100 served |
| I 94 MOBILE HOME PARK groundwater · private · MT0000410 | 90 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 20 people were held in Dawson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 373 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 154.
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.
7 school districts have their office in Dawson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $11.8 million — $11.5 million to run schools, about $14,702 per student, plus $296,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.9 million local (mostly property tax), $4.8 million state, $2 million federal.
Spent $4.8 million — $4.6 million to run schools, about $13,329 per student, plus $150,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.6 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $21,000 federal. Long-term debt: $1,000.
Spent $1.3 million — $1.1 million to run schools, about $21,212 per student, plus $85,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $531,000 local (mostly property tax), $481,000 state, $140,000 federal. Long-term debt: $850,000.
Spent $1.3 million — $1.1 million to run schools, about $39,172 per student, plus $107,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $622,000 local (mostly property tax), $631,000 state, $56,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3,000.
Spent $287,000 — $276,000 to run schools, about $13,800 per student. Money in: $349,000 local (mostly property tax), $127,000 state, $58,000 federal.
Spent $180,000 — $153,000 to run schools, about $21,857 per student, plus $16,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $88,000 local (mostly property tax), $199,000 state, $24,000 federal.
Spent $208,000 — $156,000 to run schools, about $22,286 per student, plus $50,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $70,000 local (mostly property tax), $63,000 state, $43,000 federal.
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 Dawson County about $21.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
109 bridges in Dawson County: 8 in good condition, 92 fair, and 9 poor (8.3%). “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.
| I 94 over CLEAR CREEK · built 1973 | 4,317 vehicles a day |
| S 200 over DRAINAGE · built 1959 | 307 vehicles a day |
| ROAD 229 over BAD ROUTE CREEK 035 · built 1975 | 100 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 524 over N FK THIRTEN MILE CR 091 · built 1983 | 100 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 542 over THIRTEEN MILE CR 061 · built 1964 | 100 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY ROAD 530 over S FK BURNS CREEK 092 · built 1975 | 100 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $16 million of work in Dawson County in fiscal 2025, about $1,786 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 Dawson 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 Dawson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Montana: the state government and every county in Montana.
Nearby counties: Wibaux County (36 mi) · Richland County (39 mi) · Prairie County (42 mi) · McCone County (47 mi) · Golden Valley County, ND (54 mi) · Fallon County (69 mi).