11,862 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.4% since 2020)
4,339 square miles of land · 3 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.
11 active community water systems list Fergus County in the area they serve, reporting 7,383 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LEWISTOWN CITY OF groundwater · local government · MT0000271 | 5,923 served |
| MOUNTAIN ACRES MB HM PK buys groundwater · private · MT0003809 | 320 served |
| WINIFRED TOWN OF groundwater · local government · MT0000363 | 274 served |
| DENTON TOWN OF surface water · local government · MT0000199 | 255 served |
| MOORE TOWN OF groundwater · local government · MT0000295 | 186 served |
| ROY WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT groundwater · local government · MT0002395 | 110 served |
| GRASS RANGE TOWN OF groundwater · local government · MT0000231 | 102 served |
| AYERS HUTTERITE COLONY groundwater · private · MT0000413 | 58 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 11 people were held in Fergus County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 173 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 16.
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.
14 school districts have their office in Fergus County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $26 million — $10.2 million to run schools, about $11,521 per student, plus $14.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.5 million local (mostly property tax), $5.4 million state, $1.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $23.9 million.
Spent $5.1 million — $5 million to run schools, about $14,051 per student, plus $107,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.1 million local (mostly property tax), $2.5 million state, $81,000 federal.
Spent $13.8 million — $2.3 million to run schools, about $14,896 per student, plus $11.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.3 million state, $285,000 federal. Long-term debt: $8.5 million.
Spent $992,000 — $793,000 to run schools, about $13,672 per student, plus $68,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $449,000 local (mostly property tax), $476,000 state, $193,000 federal.
Spent $1 million — $929,000 to run schools, about $19,354 per student, plus $79,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $649,000 local (mostly property tax), $269,000 state, $121,000 federal. Long-term debt: $99,000.
Spent $1.1 million — $826,000 to run schools, about $23,600 per student, plus $323,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $434,000 local (mostly property tax), $217,000 state, $231,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4,000.
Spent $1.1 million — $910,000 to run schools, about $50,556 per student, plus $36,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $437,000 local (mostly property tax), $587,000 state, $134,000 federal.
Spent $624,000 — $606,000 to run schools, about $33,667 per student. Money in: $571,000 local (mostly property tax), $409,000 state, $12,000 federal.
And 6 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 Fergus County about $13.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
158 bridges in Fergus County: 52 in good condition, 97 fair, and 9 poor (5.7%). “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.
| US 87 over DRAINAGE · built 1939 | 1,067 vehicles a day |
| US 191 over MISSOURI RIVER · built 1959 | 655 vehicles a day |
| 6TH AVE S over BIG SPRING CREEK 133 · built 1962 | 437 vehicles a day |
| US 191 over BOX ELDER CREEK · built 1942 | 382 vehicles a day |
| FAIRVIEW RD over S FORK MCDONALD CR 123 · built 1962 | 100 vehicles a day |
| N DAWES STREET over BIG SPRING CREEK 061 · built 1940 | 100 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $48.4 million of work in Fergus County in fiscal 2025, about $4,230 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 Fergus 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 Fergus County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Montana: the state government and every county in Montana.
Nearby counties: Petroleum County (47 mi) · Judith Basin County (52 mi) · Wheatland County (58 mi) · Golden Valley County (58 mi) · Musselshell County (62 mi) · Chouteau County (73 mi).