# Judith Basin County, Montana

Judith Basin County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,023. Its county seat is the town of Stanford.

## History

Judith Basin County was formed of area taken from western Fergus and eastern Cascade counties on December 10, 1920. In 1895, Yogo sapphires were discovered at Yogo Gulch, about 15 miles southwest of Utica, which at the time was in Fergus County.

## Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,871 square miles (4,850 km$^2$), of which 1,870 square miles (4,800 km$^2$) is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km$^2$) (0.04%) is water.

### Adjacent counties

* Chouteau County – north
* Fergus County – east
* Wheatland County – south
* Meagher County – south
* Cascade County – west

### National protected area

* Lewis and Clark National Forest (part)

### City

* Hobson

### Town

* Stanford (county seat)

### Census-designated places

* Geyser
* Moccasin
* Raynesford
* Sapphire Ridge
* Surprise Creek Colony
* Utica
* Windham

### Other unincorporated communities

* Arrow Creek
* Benchland
* Hughesville
* Kolin
* Lehigh
* Sapphire Village
* Sipple
* Spion Kop
* Utica

### Former town

* Ubet

## Politics

This small county strongly leans Republican; a Democrat has not won this county in a Presidential race since Lyndon Johnson's landslide win in 1964.
United States presidential election results for Judith Basin County, Montana :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 1,051 | 77.68% | 265 | 19.59% | 37 | 2.73% |
| 2020 | 1,040 | 77.38% | 275 | 20.46% | 29 | 2.16% |
| 2016 | 872 | 72.19% | 235 | 19.45% | 101 | 8.36% |
| 2012 | 854 | 70.29% | 337 | 27.74% | 24 | 1.98% |
| 2008 | 801 | 64.81% | 397 | 32.12% | 38 | 3.07% |
| 2004 | 944 | 73.41% | 322 | 25.04% | 20 | 1.56% |
| 2000 | 1,057 | 75.82% | 278 | 19.94% | 59 | 4.23% |
| 1996 | 753 | 56.28% | 452 | 33.78% | 133 | 9.94% |
| 1992 | 610 | 42.16% | 409 | 28.27% | 428 | 29.58% |
| 1988 | 902 | 59.50% | 590 | 38.92% | 24 | 1.58% |
| 1984 | 1,050 | 67.74% | 483 | 31.16% | 17 | 1.10% |
| 1980 | 1,030 | 63.31% | 480 | 29.50% | 117 | 7.19% |
| 1976 | 809 | 50.12% | 772 | 47.83% | 33 | 2.04% |
| 1972 | 961 | 59.54% | 557 | 34.51% | 96 | 5.95% |
| 1968 | 804 | 53.03% | 606 | 39.97% | 106 | 6.99% |
| 1964 | 678 | 45.14% | 822 | 54.73% | 2 | 0.13% |
| 1960 | 721 | 46.10% | 842 | 53.84% | 1 | 0.06% |
| 1956 | 789 | 48.20% | 848 | 51.80% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1952 | 1,074 | 57.96% | 746 | 40.26% | 33 | 1.78% |
| 1948 | 609 | 36.64% | 934 | 56.20% | 119 | 7.16% |
| 1944 | 691 | 39.55% | 1,049 | 60.05% | 7 | 0.40% |
| 1940 | 670 | 35.02% | 1,215 | 63.51% | 28 | 1.46% |
| 1936 | 645 | 28.91% | 1,534 | 68.76% | 52 | 2.33% |
| 1932 | 720 | 33.79% | 1,280 | 60.07% | 131 | 6.15% |
| 1928 | 1,342 | 56.77% | 978 | 41.37% | 44 | 1.86% |
| 1924 | 888 | 41.34% | 480 | 22.35% | 780 | 36.31% |

## Demographics
### 2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,023 people living in the county.

### 2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 2,072 people, 924 households, and 600 families in the county. The population density was 1.1 inhabitants per square mile (0.42/km$^2$). There were 1,336 housing units at an average density of 0.7 per square mile (0.27/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the county was 98.3% white, 0.8% American Indian, 0.1% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 30.9% were German, 16.7% were English, 16.1% were Irish, 10.3% were Norwegian, 6.7% were Czech, 5.0% were Danish, and 1.7% were American.
Of the 924 households, 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.1% were non-families, and 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.80. The median age was 48.3 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $41,473 and the median income for a family was $54,479. Males had a median income of $36,295 versus $29,750 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,029. About 6.4% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.9% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.