According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,223 square miles (3,170 km2), of which 1,219 square miles (3,160 km2) is land and 3.8 square miles (9.8 km2) (0.3%) is water.[3]
As of the 2010 census, there were 4,223 people, 1,911 households, and 1,229 families in the county. The population density was 3.5 inhabitants per square mile (1.4 inhabitants/km2). There were 2,446 housing units at an average density of 2.0 units per square mile (0.77 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 94.9% white, 1.5% American Indian, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.2% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 30.9% were German, 16.9% were Irish, 15.4% were English, and 3.0% were American.
Of the 1,911 households, 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.7% were non-families, and 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.69. The median age was 49.8 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $37,256 and the median income for a family was $44,271. Males had a median income of $35,536 versus $20,370 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,209. About 12.7% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.0% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.