Grinnell Glacier Overlook, Glacier National Park, MontanaPhoto: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Downtown in Gallatin County, MontanaPhoto: Tim Evanson from Washington, D.C., USA, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Courthouse in Yellowstone County, MontanaPhoto: Sara goth, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cost of living in Montana

Rent, income, home value and property tax for Montana, home to 1.12M people, then the same for each of its 56 counties. Every figure is the published one, with its source named.

Median rent: $1,081; Census ACS, B25064, monthly
Median household income: $72,509; Census ACS, B19013, yearly
Median home value: $375,800; Census ACS, B25077
Median property tax bill: $2,693; Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners
Mean commute: 19 min; Census ACS, DP03, one way
Unemployment: 3.6%; Census ACS, DP03

Montana's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 5% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Census ACS 2024 five-year estimates, checked November 2026.

The three most populous counties in Montana

These are the most populous places in Montana, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

Yellowstone County
Population
169K
Rent
$1,131
Household income
$76,570
Prop. tax (yearly)
$2,832
Plan
Gallatin County
Population
124K
Rent
$1,694
Household income
$93,528
Prop. tax (yearly)
$3,933
Plan
Missoula County
Population
121K
Rent
$1,190
Household income
$75,598
Prop. tax (yearly)
$4,150
Plan

Montana, worth the trip

Admitted to the Union on November 8, 1889, as the 41st state. Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806 were the first non-Native explorers known to have set foot in Montana. Gold discoveries in the early 1860s drew prospectors, which led the federal government to establish Montana Territory in 1864.

Glacier National Park
Glaciers, alpine meadows, carved valleys and lakes, with over 700 miles of trails and the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
The battlefield where Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors fought the 7th Cavalry on June 25 and 26, 1876.
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
The ranch that was once the headquarters of a 10 million acre cattle empire.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in Montana

Current owners in Montana pay a median 0.72% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $2,693 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $598 in Wibaux County to $4,150 in Missoula County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in Montana

Life expectancy: 76.9 yrs; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics
No health insurance: 10.5%; County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65
Poor or fair health: 16.4%; County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted
Injury deaths per 100K people: 103; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for Montana as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in Montana

Expected yearly loss, statewide: $754M; All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more
Building loss rate: $1.54; Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states
Costliest hazard: Inland flooding; $277M of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses
Air quality: —; The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

New homes permitted in Montana

Permitted in 2025

5,258homes

Per 1,000 residents

4.7

Single-family · larger buildings

2,675 · 2,583

5,9802020
7,2722021
6,4602022
4,3072023
5,3672024
5,2582025

Montana approved permits for 5,258 new homes in 2025. That is about 4.7 homes for every 1,000 people. 2,675 were single-family houses, and 2,583 were in buildings with two or more homes. From 2020 to 2025 the yearly count stayed between 4,307 and 7,272.

17th of the 50 states and DC by homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025.

A permit lets a home be built. It does not mean the home is finished. Some offices did not report, so part of this figure is a Census estimate. The offices that did report account for 4,232. Source: US Census Building Permits Survey, annual 2025 data.

Side by side

Yellowstone County, MT is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

The largest counties in Montana

By population, from the Census release named below. Each opens its own page.

All 56 counties in Montana

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.


Beaverhead County	$837	$61,268	$308,300	$2,069	9,713	42
Big Horn County	$697	$58,750	$143,400	$1,574	12.9K	none
Blaine County	$660	$64,813	$155,500	$2,080	6,949	none
Broadwater County	$955	$70,374	$426,600	$2,384	7,668	3
Carbon County	$844	$80,261	$420,800	$2,281	11.1K	32
Carter County	$824	$54,167	$199,200	—	1,308	5
Cascade County	$939	$67,690	$265,300	$2,320	84.6K	253
Chouteau County	$536	$58,218	$207,800	$1,566	5,906	18
Custer County	$893	$70,605	$219,100	$2,264	12K	4
Daniels County	$581	$55,625	$184,800	$1,610	1,494	none
Dawson County	$815	$71,334	$185,300	$2,110	8,827	none
Deer Lodge County	$696	$57,527	$231,700	$1,803	9,597	22
Fallon County	$779	$76,250	$244,800	$1,220	2,760	4
Fergus County	$954	$63,706	$236,100	$1,769	11.7K	2
Flathead County	$1,142	$73,925	$535,500	$3,120	111K	830
Gallatin County	$1,694	$93,528	$667,600	$3,933	124K	1,544
Garfield County	$725	$69,583	$169,900	—	1,094	none
Glacier County	$548	$46,875	$165,100	$1,391	13.6K	none
Golden Valley County	$783	$58,333	$212,200	$1,132	899	—
Granite County	$675	$59,265	$352,700	$2,130	3,462	—
Hill County	$776	$52,798	$202,600	$1,980	16.2K	1
Jefferson County	$925	$95,490	$446,900	$2,446	12.8K	20
Judith Basin County	$495	$59,000	$238,300	$1,066	2,071	—
Lake County	$901	$63,360	$421,800	$2,561	32.6K	76
Lewis and Clark County	$1,102	$78,237	$393,500	$3,113	73.5K	193
Liberty County	$710	$57,857	$169,100	—	1,952	—
Lincoln County	$762	$47,143	$296,500	$1,615	21.2K	27
Madison County	$1,000	$75,250	$470,100	$1,937	9,223	7
McCone County	$556	$69,375	$211,600	—	1,670	1
Meagher County	$1,263	$71,932	$259,800	$1,725	2,007	—
Mineral County	$801	$63,450	$364,300	$1,758	4,959	3
Missoula County	$1,190	$75,598	$472,100	$4,150	121K	886
Musselshell County	—	$58,920	$235,000	$1,287	5,152	7
Park County	$976	$70,047	$467,500	$2,641	17.7K	none
Petroleum County	$800	$60,208	$201,400	$1,211	447	—
Phillips County	$536	$53,417	$197,600	$1,551	4,221	none
Pondera County	$784	$52,338	$206,100	$1,651	6,035	none
Powder River County	$533	$67,045	$192,100	$1,304	1,815	—
Powell County	$820	$66,923	$306,500	$2,104	7,053	88
Prairie County	—	$51,250	$165,700	$1,391	1,250	—
Ravalli County	$1,054	$71,283	$476,600	$2,380	46.7K	55
Richland County	$917	$73,084	$263,000	$1,934	11.2K	1
Roosevelt County	$705	$57,063	$118,800	$1,522	10.5K	none
Rosebud County	$672	$49,914	$182,400	—	8,165	2
Sanders County	$820	$57,476	$359,000	$1,889	13.3K	—
Sheridan County	$746	$70,147	$124,000	$1,521	3,669	none
Silver Bow County	$863	$61,754	$255,200	$2,500	35.8K	130
Stillwater County	$961	$84,732	$405,800	$2,319	9,182	none
Sweet Grass County	$1,149	$77,000	$330,100	$1,615	3,720	2
Teton County	$730	$70,430	$264,000	$1,987	6,353	2
Toole County	$826	$57,731	$218,400	$1,908	5,061	none
Treasure County	—	$67,917	$230,300	$1,364	732	—
Valley County	$767	$71,695	$198,400	$2,333	7,519	none
Wheatland County	$730	$49,489	$180,800	$1,013	2,056	—
Wibaux County	$963	$67,462	$98,600	$598	1,193	1
Yellowstone County	$1,131	$76,570	$349,500	$2,832	169K	997

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.

What to do with these numbers

Every number here is public. The site adds your side of it: Montana next to your own state, by what you value.

See Montana beside your own state
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Pick a county here and make it your target
The three counties above each carry Set as target. From there the Journey lays out the runway and the steps. An account keeps it private and yours across devices.
See the three counties

Montana at a glance

The three most populous counties in Montana

Yellowstone County

Gallatin County

Missoula County