The largest county in Montana

There are two right answers. By land area it is Beaverhead County; by population it is Yellowstone County. Which one you want depends on what you meant by largest.

Largest by land area

Beaverhead County

5,543 sq mi

3.8% of Montana's land

Largest by population

Yellowstone County

172,692 people

15.1% of Montana's population

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

By land area

The ten largest counties of Montana by land area. Land area excludes inland and coastal water.
RankNameLand areaPopulation
1Beaverhead County5,543 sq mi10,043
2Phillips County5,140 sq mi4,203
3Flathead County5,087 sq mi115,429
4Rosebud County5,008 sq mi8,253
5Big Horn County4,998 sq mi12,752
6Valley County4,926 sq mi7,385
7Garfield County4,677 sq mi1,148
8Fergus County4,339 sq mi11,825
9Blaine County4,228 sq mi6,860
10Chouteau County3,973 sq mi5,865

By population

The ten most populous counties of Montana, from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates.
RankNamePopulationDensity
1Yellowstone County172,69265.6 per sq mi
2Gallatin County128,74049.4 per sq mi
3Missoula County123,51347.6 per sq mi
4Flathead County115,42922.7 per sq mi
5Cascade County85,02931.5 per sq mi
6Lewis and Clark County75,33121.8 per sq mi
7Ravalli County48,58220.3 per sq mi
8Silver Bow County36,11850.3 per sq mi
9Lake County33,39222.4 per sq mi
10Lincoln County22,3286.2 per sq mi

And the smallest

Smallest by land area

Silver Bow County

718 sq mi

Least populous

Petroleum County

548 people

More on Montana

Rebuilt from source data 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.