Powell County, Montana

Powell County is a county in Montana, United States, in the west-central part of the state along the upper Clark Fork River. It had a population of 6,946 at the 2020 census and covers 2,332.7 square miles (6,042 km2), of which 2,326.4 square miles (6,025 km2) is land, centred near 46°51′N 112°56′W.

Deer Lodge is the county seat, and its postal code is 59722. The county has one incorporated city, six census-designated places, and a scatter of unincorporated communities and former mining camps. Montana has no civil townships, so places here are not grouped by township. The county observes Mountain Time.

Towns & Villages in Powell County

Powell County has 26 named places on record, ranging from the county seat of Deer Lodge to scattered ranching hamlets and 19th-century mining camps in the surrounding mountains. Only Deer Lodge is incorporated; the rest are census-designated places (CDPs) or unincorporated communities with no municipal government of their own. Population and ZIP figures are shown only where a source could confirm them — an em dash means the figure is not separately reported by the Census Bureau or the postal service.

Several of these — Blossburg, Reynolds City, Quigley, and Coughlin among them — trace to short-lived gold and silver camps from the 1860s–1880s in the mountains around the Deer Lodge Valley; most are no longer populated but the names persist on maps and in local usage. Goldcreek is the same place historically called Gold Creek, site of Montana’s first documented gold discovery in 1852.

ZIP Codes

• 59722 — Deer Lodge (also serves the surrounding valley and Montana State Prison)
• 59713 — Avon
• 59728 — Elliston
• 59731 — Garrison
• 59733 — Goldcreek
• 59843 — Helmville
• 59854 — Ovando

Smaller unincorporated places such as Racetrack, Pioneer, and the historic mining camps have no ZIP code of their own and are served by the nearest post office town above.

Geography

Powell County sits in the upper Clark Fork River valley between the Flint Creek Range to the west and the Continental Divide along the Rocky Mountain Front to the east, with the Garnet Range and Blackfoot River drainage covering its northern reaches. Much of the county is public land, including parts of the Helena-Lewis and Clark and Lolo national forests. The Clark Fork River flows southwest to northwest through the Deer Lodge Valley, and the Blackfoot River drains the county’s northern third toward Missoula.

Powell County borders Flathead County to the north, Lewis and Clark County to the east, Jefferson County to the southeast, Deer Lodge County to the south, Granite County to the southwest, and Missoula County to the west.

Demographics

Powell County had 6,946 residents at the 2020 census, spread across 2,326.4 square miles of land for a density of roughly 3 people per square mile — among the more sparsely settled counties in western Montana. Deer Lodge, with 2,938 residents, is by far the largest community and home to more than 40% of the county’s population; Elliston and Avon are the next-largest named places, though the Census Bureau does not report separate population totals for most of the county’s smaller CDPs. Verified county-level median household income was not available for this update; the statewide Montana median household income is $70,804 (2023 American Community Survey).

Economy & Local Life

Corrections and government employment anchor the local economy: the Montana State Prison, located just outside Deer Lodge, is one of the county’s largest employers. Ranching and hay production dominate the Deer Lodge Valley floor, while timber and outdoor recreation — hunting, fishing on the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers, and access to national forest land — support businesses along the Interstate 90 corridor. Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Deer Lodge, a preserved 19th-century cattle ranch operated by the National Park Service, is a notable visitor draw and interprets the county’s open-range ranching history.

History

Powell County was organized on February 2, 1901, carved out of the much larger original Deer Lodge County. It was named for Mount Powell, itself named for the geologist and Colorado River explorer John Wesley Powell. Deer Lodge, the new county’s seat, had already been the site of Montana’s territorial prison since 1871 and later the short-lived College of Montana, the first institution of higher learning chartered in the territory. The mountains ringing the Deer Lodge Valley drew prospectors from the 1850s onward; Gold Creek, in the county’s south, is credited with Montana’s first documented gold discovery in 1852, predating the larger strikes at Bannack and Virginia City by a decade.

Getting There

Interstate 90 runs the length of the county on a northwest-southeast diagonal, with U.S. Route 12 and Montana Highways 141 and 200 providing the main secondary routes into the Blackfoot and Deer Lodge valleys.

• Butte — about 30 miles south via I-90
• Helena — about 40 miles east via I-90 and US-12
• Missoula — about 65 miles west via I-90

The nearest commercial airport is Bert Mooney Airport in Butte, roughly 30 miles south of Deer Lodge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Powell County, Montana?
It is in west-central Montana, along the upper Clark Fork River between Missoula and Helena, with Deer Lodge as its county seat.

What is the population of Powell County?
Powell County had a population of 6,946 at the 2020 census.

How big is Powell County?
The county covers 2,332.7 square miles (6,042 km2), of which 2,326.4 square miles is land.

What is the county seat of Powell County?
Deer Lodge is the county seat.

How many towns are in Powell County?
One incorporated city, Deer Lodge, plus six census-designated places (Avon, Elliston, Garrison, Goldcreek, Helmville, and Ovando) and about a dozen smaller unincorporated communities and historic mining camps.

What ZIP codes are in Powell County, Montana?
The main ZIP codes are 59722 (Deer Lodge), 59713 (Avon), 59728 (Elliston), 59731 (Garrison), 59733 (Goldcreek), 59843 (Helmville), and 59854 (Ovando).

What is the Montana State Prison’s connection to Powell County?
The prison has stood just outside Deer Lodge since Montana’s territorial days in 1871 and remains one of the county’s largest employers.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Montana.