header: DerHabs, Broz1014 – CC BY-SA 4.0; Jaycarlcooper – CC BY-SA 3.0
What do the numbers mean on Montana license plates?
The first number on the Montana license plate represents the county in which that vehicle is registered.
source: DerHabs, Broz1014 – CC BY-SA 4.0; Jaycarlcooper, Jaycarlcooper, – CC BY-SA 3.0
For example, the first number on license plates for vehicles registered in Yellowstone County is 3. Vehicles registered in Gallatin County (Bozeman) have the number 6. Vehicles registered in Great Falls have 2.
Montana residents know the license plate number of their home county, but what about the other counties?
The table below lists all of the Montana license plate numbers with their corresponding Montana counties and seats (“capitals”).
Montana license plate number table
| License Plate Number | County | County Seat |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Butte-Silver Bow | Butte |
| 2 | Cascade | Great Falls |
| 3 | Yellowstone | Billings |
| 4 | Missoula | Missoula |
| 5 | Lewis & Clark | Helena |
| 6 | Gallatin | Bozeman |
| 7 | Flathead | Kalispell |
| 8 | Fergus | Lewistown |
| 9 | Powder River | Broadus |
| 10 | Carbon | Red Lodge |
| 11 | Phillips | Malta |
| 12 | Hill | Havre |
| 13 | Ravalli | Hamilton |
| 14 | Custer | Miles City |
| 15 | Lake | Polson |
| 16 | Dawson | Glendive |
| 17 | Roosevelt | Wolf Point |
| 18 | Beaverhead | Dillon |
| 19 | Chouteau | Fort Benton |
| 20 | Valley | Glasgow |
| 21 | Toole | Shelby |
| 22 | Big Horn | Hardin |
| 23 | Musselshell | Roundup |
| 24 | Blaine | Chinook |
| 25 | Madison | Virginia City |
| 26 | Pondera | Conrad |
| 27 | Richland | Sidney |
| 28 | Powell | Deer Lodge |
| 29 | Rosebud | Forsyth |
| 30 | Anaconda-Deer Lodge | Anaconda |
| 31 | Teton | Choteau |
| 32 | Stillwater | Columbus |
| 33 | Treasure | Hysham |
| 34 | Sheridan | Plentywood |
| 35 | Sanders | Thompson Falls |
| 36 | Judith Basin | Stanford |
| 37 | Daniels | Scobey |
| 38 | Glacier | Cut Bank |
| 39 | Fallon | Baker |
| 40 | Sweet Grass | Big Timber |
| 41 | McCone | Circle |
| 42 | Carter | Ekalaka |
| 43 | Broadwater | Townsend |
| 44 | Wheatland | Harlowton |
| 45 | Prairie | Terry |
| 46 | Granite | Philipsburg |
| 47 | Meagher | White Sulphur Springs |
| 48 | Liberty | Chester |
| 49 | Park | Livingston |
| 50 | Garfield | Jordan |
| 51 | Jefferson | Boulder |
| 52 | Wibaux | Wibaux |
| 53 | Golden Valley | Ryegate |
| 54 | Mineral | Superior |
| 55 | Petroleum | Winnett |
| 56 | Lincoln | Libby |
Assigned according to population
In the 1930s, the Montana state legislature developed a system to identify vehicles throughout the state by the county where they were registered. Authorities assigned each county a number to be put on all license plates on vehicles registered in that county.
The commonly held belief is that Montana license plate numbers were assigned according to county populations from the 1930 census. For example, Butte-Silver Bow County was the most populated county back then, so it received the number “1”.
But there were exceptions. For instance, Powder River County (with Broadus as the county seat) was never the ninth populated county in Montana, despite receiving the number “9” as the first number on its license plate.
Why some counties received the numbers they did remains a mystery today.
As county populations change, should the numbers be reassigned?
Montana county populations have changed drastically since these numbers were first assigned.
If Montana license plate numbers were reassigned according to population, Yellowstone County would be 1 (instead of 3), Gallatin County would be 2 (instead of 6), and Missoula County would be 3 (instead of 4).
However, to local residents, the first number on a Montana license plate means much more to them than just the county population.
If you’re from Montana or you’ve spent time there, you might be familiar with the strong association residents have with the first numbers on their license plates.
For many, it represents the place they call home, where they grew up, went to school, and in some cases, where they now work. It’s a piece of nostalgia that apparently most Montana residents don’t want to change.
Whenever I see the number 3 on a license plate, I often think of Billings, as my home county is 3.
