Official Federal Data
Cascade County, Montana
FIPS 30013 · Great Falls, MT · Population 84,606
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$67,690 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
3.3% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$5.7B ▲
GDP
28.4% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$67,690 ▲
Per Capita
$38,795 ▲
Mean Household
$89,832 ▲
Poverty Rate
13.1% ▼
Median Income Comparison
Cascade County$67,690
Montana$72,509
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 22.3%
18-34 · 23%
35-54 · 22.6%
55-64 · 12.5%
65+ · 19.6%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
94.4%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▲ +4.8 pts
28.4%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▼ 7.3 pts
10.5%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▼ 3.6 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
84,606
Population
42,741
Labor Force
Employed
38,558
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
3.3% ▲ +0.3 pts YoY
Mean Commute 10 min below national avg
16.5 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
7.4%
Key Takeaways
- Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
- Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 7.3 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 6,986 workers (25.5% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $67,473.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $5.7B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $90,155 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $23,863, a 3.8x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?
Get Deeper Trends
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Retail Trade Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
2,729
Cluster Employment
1.67x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing
2.00x 11
Construction of Buildings
1.72x 744
General Merchandise Retailers
1.67x 1,253
Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction
1.66x 457
Building Material and Garden Supply Retailers
1.66x 528
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Misc. Retailers
1.63x 562
Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries
1.61x 715
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
1.59x 386
Couriers and Messengers
1.55x 405
Accommodation
1.51x 674
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing concentrates at 2.00x the national norm.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 6 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$265,300 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$939 ▲
Rent/Mo
68.5% ▲
Owner-Occ
9.8% ▼
Vacancy
3.9x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$960/mo
1 Bedroom
$979/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,284/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,786/mo
4 Bedroom
$2,035/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,692/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.9x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,692/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
49,130 ▲
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 10 min below national avg
16.5 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
7.4%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
75.8%
of prime-age population
▲ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
28.4% ▲
HS Diploma+
94.4% ▲
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
8,624/yr
3,536/yr
3,194/yr
795/yr
425/yr
381/yr
293/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
21.5%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Elevated retirement risk, above the 20% threshold. Succession planning recommended.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
37.9%
Service
19.2%
Sales & Office
20.6%
Construction / Maint.
10.4%
Production / Transport
11.9%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 38,558 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Short commutes: 16.5-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 7,525 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Cascade County shows emerging potential for leather and allied product manufacturing attraction, with a 2.00x concentration and 11 jobs in this sub-sector.
The interconnected base across leather and allied product manufacturing, construction of buildings, and general merchandise retailers creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
Take it further
AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.
Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.
Schedule a DemoAvailable as premium offerings.
Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Cascade County, Montana, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Cascade County, Montana?
84,606 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Cascade County, Montana?
$67,690 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Cascade County, Montana?
3.3% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Cascade County, Montana?
$5.7B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
Cascade County, MT: Public data. Imagine the full platform.
Get a Demo →