7,120 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.6% since 2020)
2,326 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.
2 active community water systems list Powell County in the area they serve, reporting 5,000 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| DEER LODGE CITY OF groundwater · local government · MT0000197 | 2,900 served |
| MONTANA STATE PRISON groundwater · state · MT0000198 | 2,100 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 14 people were held in Powell County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2022), or 297 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2017 it was about 11.
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 Powell County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $5.5 million — $5.2 million to run schools, about $12,286 per student, plus $288,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.2 million local (mostly property tax), $2.3 million state, $1 million federal. Long-term debt: $777,000.
Spent $3.8 million — $3.6 million to run schools, about $19,242 per student, plus $10,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.4 million local (mostly property tax), $1.3 million state, $291,000 federal. Long-term debt: $3.5 million.
Spent $297,000 — $279,000 to run schools, about $9,964 per student, plus $4,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $97,000 local (mostly property tax), $159,000 state, $42,000 federal.
Spent $333,000 — $265,000 to run schools, about $13,947 per student, plus $42,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $120,000 local (mostly property tax), $113,000 state, $115,000 federal.
Spent $299,000 — $227,000 to run schools, about $13,353 per student, plus $60,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $114,000 local (mostly property tax), $93,000 state, $104,000 federal.
Spent $302,000 — $273,000 to run schools, about $17,063 per student. Money in: $164,000 local (mostly property tax), $124,000 state, $25,000 federal.
Spent $255,000 — $249,000 to run schools, about $15,563 per student, plus $4,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $123,000 local (mostly property tax), $100,000 state, $23,000 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: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Powell County about $4.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
113 bridges in Powell County: 36 in good condition, 70 fair, and 7 poor (6.2%). “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 90 EB over RR · built 1973 | 5,992 vehicles a day |
| I 90 over RR · built 1973 | 5,992 vehicles a day |
| I 90 over INT W GARRISON-RR · built 1979 | 5,232 vehicles a day |
| MAIN ST over CLARK FORK RIVER · built 1949 | 2,330 vehicles a day |
| S 141 over NEVADA CREEK · built 1936 | 1,594 vehicles a day |
| S FRONTAGE RD 011 over DEMPSEY CREEK 059 · built 1930 | 916 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.4 million of work in Powell County in fiscal 2025, about $345 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 Powell 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 Powell County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Montana: the state government and every county in Montana.
Nearby counties: Lewis and Clark County (32 mi) · Granite County (39 mi) · Missoula County (47 mi) · Deer Lodge County (53 mi) · Jefferson County (65 mi) · Silver Bow County (67 mi).