Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0How is Laurel run?
Laurel’s city government spent $9 million on day-to-day services in the year to June 30, 2024, about $1,247 per resident. These are Census Bureau estimates: Laurel didn’t report its figures, so this page shows them without comparisons.
What stands out about how Laurel is run
Read from the city’s budget and official records.
About $1,247 per resident a year, or $3.42 a day
Day-to-day services only (a Census Bureau estimate). The biggest line: sewer & trash, at 26%.
Thank you for being a neighbor
Laurel didn’t report all of its 2024 figures to the Census Bureau, so most of these numbers are the Bureau’s estimates.
No comparison or trend for Laurel yet
Every year of Laurel’s figures is a Census Bureau estimate: the city reported none of its dollars for 2022–2024. Estimates are shown above, labeled, but never ranked against places that reported or drawn as a trend.
How Town Hall compares budgets →full-time in March 2025, up from 44 in 2022. Both are Census estimates.
The typical homeowner pays $1,939 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 0.82% of the home’s value, vs 0.72% across Montana.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Laurel’s rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate.
Tax bills are one input to Laurel’s Cost of living grade. Cost of living in Laurel →
Who’s in charge in Laurel
Names change after every election, so we link to the source that keeps them current.
Laurel’s meeting calendar isn’t in our feed yet. The city posts agendas and minutes on laurel.mt.gov ↗.
One full-time city employee for every 160 residents
On the payroll in March 2025, from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (a Census estimate). Residents: the Census population in the 2024 finance file (7,203).
By department full-time, plus part-time, March 2025
The Census reports one month’s payroll (March); yearly figures are that month × 12, an estimate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
Laurel Elementary School District
Laurel’s elementary school district. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $12,447 per pupil, $7,272 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
Montana districts overall: 44% local, 39% state, 17% federal.
Laurel High School District · $12,555 per pupil
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
Laurel’s votes are counted by county
Montana reports official results by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Laurel alone, and we don’t estimate them. These are Yellowstone County’s results.
Donald J TrumpRepublican62.0%50,460 votes
Kamala D HarrisDemocrat34.9%28,392 votesOthers: 3.1% (2,539 votes).
Most votes in Yellowstone County: Donald J Trump
Montana: Trump 58.4%, Harris 38.5%
100% of Laurel lies in Yellowstone County. Every 2024 race in Yellowstone County is on the county’s page.
Yellowstone County’s 2024 results →Official 2024 general election returns, as certified (MIT Election Data + Science Lab). Percentages are of votes for candidates; blank and spoiled ballots aren’t counted. Candidates are listed by votes, and party colors are neutral on purpose.
Portraits: Kamala D Harris: official vice-presidential portrait, Lawrence Jackson, The White House, 2021; Donald J Trump: official portrait, Shealah Craighead, The White House, 2017. All are U.S. government works in the public domain. A race shows photos only when every candidate has an official portrait; otherwise every candidate in it gets initials.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Laurel.
- 1Your cityMayor & councilOfficials: laurel.mt.gov ↗
- 2Montana HouseState representatives
- 3Montana SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in Congress
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of Montana
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Laurel’s government
The official site has phone numbers, hours and forms. Neighbors add the rest to the Handbook.
Questions about Laurel’s government
How much does Laurel spend per resident?
About $1,247 per resident on day-to-day services in the year to June 30, 2024, a Census Bureau estimate (Laurel didn’t report its figures). With building projects and interest, the whole budget was about $20.4 million.
What is the property tax rate in Laurel?
Homeowners report a typical bill of $1,939 a year (Census ACS, 2020–24), about 0.82% of the typical home’s value, vs 0.72% across Montana. For the official rate per $1,000 of assessed value, see laurel.mt.gov.
Who runs Laurel’s government?
See laurel.mt.gov for current officials. We name an official only when a public source lists a current term, and none does for Laurel yet.
How did Laurel vote in 2024?
Montana counts votes by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Laurel alone. Yellowstone County, where 100% of Laurel lies, voted Trump 62.0%, Harris 34.9% for president; its page has every race.
How many people work for Laurel?
45 full-time and 41 part-time employees in March 2025, with a March payroll of $401,296 (about $4.8M a year if every month were the same); Census Bureau estimates.
Who represents Laurel in the state legislature?
State Senate District 27 (Vince Ricci) and State House District 54 (Lee Deming). Listed by Open States; districts from the Census Bureau.
Ask neighbors about Laurel’s government
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (2022, every government) and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (2023–24, a sample) and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (for Laurel, the Bureau’s estimates); day-to-day spending is current operations, with hospitals, utilities and airports apart. School district: Census school finance survey, 2023–24. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 2020–24. Elections: official 2024 returns via the MIT Election Data + Science Lab; turnout uses Census citizen voting-age population (CVAP, 2020–24). Officials: Open States, names shown only with a current term (checked October 9, 2026). Districts: Census Bureau (119th Congress, 2024 state districts); legislators: Open States and congress-legislators. How Town Hall works →