Chinese Population in Lake County, MT by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

Shelby County reports a total of 30 Chinese residents, with Ronan being the only city showing any presence - 8 residents. Polson and St. Ignatius report none. The remaining population appears to reside in unincorporated areas, pointing to a rural demographic distribution outside city boundaries. Further analysis explores this rural dispersion across Montana.

Top 5 cities with the largest Chinese population in Lake County

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  • 1
    Ronan
    Chinese population in Ronan is 8
    0.41% of Ronan population is Chinese
  • 2
    Polson
    Chinese population in Polson is 0
    - of Polson population is Chinese
  • 3
    St. Ignatius
    Chinese population in St. Ignatius is 0
    - of St. Ignatius population is Chinese

Overview of Chinese population in Lake County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data document Lake County with 30 Chinese residents (0.094% of 32,073 total county population), positioning the jurisdiction at the 48th percentile nationally among counties and 70th percentile within Montana for Chinese population concentrations, despite absolute population figures.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS data indicate Lake County's Chinese population of 0.094% remains below Montana's state average of 0.32% and the national average of 1.6%, placing the county below demographic benchmarks across multiple geographic scales.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey data indicates Lake County contains 30 Chinese residents, representing less than 1% of Montana's total Chinese population of 3,550.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey show Lake County maintains 0.02 Chinese Americans per square mile, marginally below Montana's state average of 0.024 per square mile, placing the county near state demographic representation levels.
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Lake County Cities Ranked by Chinese Population

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] indicate 8 Chinese population in Ronan and zero in Polson and St. Ignatius. The table below provides broader statistics, including total population figures, density measures, and demographic distributions based on current ACS data for the three incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Lake County, MT ranked by Chinese population count
Rank by Chinese Population
City
Chinese Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Lake County Chinese Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Ronan 8 0.41% 26.67%
2 Polson 0 - -
2 St. Ignatius 0 - -
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Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks city in Lake County, MT by their Chinese population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Chinese population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having Chinese ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as Chinese alone, while others identify as Chinese along with another race (such as Chinese and German).
  • We’ve used the “Chinese alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Chinese population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Chinese alone or in combination in city. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Chinese .
  2. % of Total Lake County Chinese Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Chinese population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Chinese populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • City that don’t have any reported Chinese population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Chinese populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.