Retiring Guy's Digest: Population loss in Montana: Chouteau County/Fort Benton

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Population loss in Montana: Chouteau County/Fort Benton

It all started here.

Population loss as in major -- 50% or more.

Source: Wikipedia (Chouteau County, Fort Benton)

Fort Benton is the county seat of Chouteau County.

Population loss by degrees: 80-90%, 70-79%, 60-69%, 50-59%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts

Percentage of population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree:

25.6% - Chouteau County
30.7% - Montana
30.9% - U.S.

Percentage of population 65 and older:

20.4% - Chouteau County
18.7% - Montana
15.6% - U.S.

% of population living in poverty:

14.5% - Chouteau County
12.5% - Montana
12.3% - U.S.

The last time a Democratic candidate for president won Chouteau County was in 1964. Trump won 64.5% of the vote in 2016.

Chouteau County Library

Related reading:
The County Fair: Life, Death, and Really Good Pie. (The New York Times, 7/16/2004)

For four days each summer, Chouteau County in Montana, a community of 5,500 people spread out over a bumpy quilt of wheat field and pasture roughly half the size of New Jersey, converges onto a few flat acres of grass and dirt along the Missouri River at the south end of Fort Benton, the county seat.

The Chouteau County Fair boasts an array of diversions. There is a midway where the Ferris wheel turns and the Octopus whips and a grandstand where the rodeo is held. There are stands that sell corn dogs and Indian tacos and deep-fried pickles. There are booths displaying the latest fashions in fences and seamless vinyl siding, and a table where you can buy a scale model of the world's largest farm tractor, kept at a ranch in the northeast corner of the county.