PETROLEUM COUNTY — The cow to people ratio is fluctuating but Petroleum County, north of Billings, still stands as the county with the highest cow to people ratio.
Petroleum County is home to a lifestyle rooted in ranching.
Watch Petroleum County residents talk about the cow to people ratio:
Gunner Lang has lived there his entire life and described it as a very rural place.
“Lots of people are ranchers,” Lang said in a recent interview.
Paul McKenna, Petroleum County Commissioner, is not surprised that the cattle outweigh the number of people.
“It isn't that Petroleum County has some magic formula where we can run more cattle here than anywhere else,” McKenna said.
Waking up to cattle every day is fulfilling for McKenna and noted the 62:1 cow ratio.
Related: Montana still has more cows than people but the cows lead is narrowing
With the population hovering around 500 people, it’s an arrangement that makes sense to the locals.
“Our lack of people just happened to qualify us for first place,” McKenna said.
While Montana’s population is growing, Mckenna does not see an influx of newcomers in the county.
“I think everything is probably gonna stay pretty much the same for the foreseeable future,” Mckenna said.
For Mckenna ranching is not driven by financial gain.
“It's not so much about the money. It's just about the lifestyle,” Mckenna said.
