114,527 people (2024 Census estimate, +9.2% since 2020)
5,087 square miles of land · 23 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.
142 active community water systems list Flathead County in the area they serve, reporting 78,353 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| KALISPELL PUBLIC WORKS groundwater · local government · MT0000259 | 25,000 served |
| WHITEFISH CITY OF surface water · local government · MT0000357 | 10,418 served |
| FLATHEAD COUNTY WATER AND SEWER groundwater · local government · MT0001744 | 9,520 served |
| BIGFORK COUNTY WATER AND SEWER groundwater · local government · MT0000262 | 6,100 served |
| COLUMBIA FALLS CITY OF groundwater · local government · MT0000181 | 4,450 served |
| BIG MOUNTAIN WATER COMPANY groundwater · private · MT0000060 | 2,435 served |
| LAKESIDE WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · MT0000266 | 1,225 served |
| HUNGRY HORSE CO WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT groundwater · local government · MT0000253 | 1,135 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 93 people were held in Flathead County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 139 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 109.
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.
23 school districts have their office in Flathead County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $42.6 million — $35.9 million to run schools, about $11,591 per student, plus $5.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $23.8 million local (mostly property tax), $18.9 million state, $1.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $37.3 million.
Spent $42.4 million — $37.3 million to run schools, about $12,053 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $19.5 million local (mostly property tax), $17.2 million state, $8.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $26.9 million.
Spent $31.6 million — $18.7 million to run schools, about $11,977 per student, plus $11.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.9 million local (mostly property tax), $8.8 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $36.2 million.
Spent $17.6 million — $16.4 million to run schools, about $12,488 per student, plus $68,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.5 million local (mostly property tax), $5.8 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $27 million.
Spent $8 million — $7.9 million to run schools, about $10,310 per student, plus $44,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $3.9 million local (mostly property tax), $4.3 million state, $264,000 federal. Long-term debt: $5.1 million.
Spent $9.5 million — $9.2 million to run schools, about $13,421 per student, plus $270,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.6 million local (mostly property tax), $4.2 million state, $895,000 federal. Long-term debt: $363,000.
Spent $12.9 million — $9.8 million to run schools, about $15,048 per student, plus $3.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4 million local (mostly property tax), $4.6 million state, $4.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $940,000.
Spent $7 million — $6.2 million to run schools, about $10,189 per student, plus $760,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.3 million local (mostly property tax), $2.8 million state, $1.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.5 million.
And 15 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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Flathead County about $75.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
204 bridges in Flathead County: 69 in good condition, 126 fair, and 9 poor (4.4%). “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 82 over FLATHEAD RIVER · built 1955 | 8,310 vehicles a day |
| IRR - US 2 over RR · built 1956 | 2,225 vehicles a day |
| BRIDGE ST over SWAN RIVER 110 · built 1911 | 1,503 vehicles a day |
| IRR-US 2 over UNSTABLE SLOPE · built 1981 | 1,013 vehicles a day |
| HOLT STAGE RD over FLATHEAD RIV OVERFL0 014 · built 1992 | 100 vehicles a day |
| W RESERVE DR over WHITEFISH RIVER · built 1983 | 100 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $139.7 million of work in Flathead County in fiscal 2025, about $1,338 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 Flathead 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 Flathead County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Montana: the state government and every county in Montana.
Nearby counties: Lake County (45 mi) · Glacier County (56 mi) · Sanders County (64 mi) · Lincoln County (67 mi) · Pondera County (84 mi) · Teton County (88 mi).