If you’re not flying down The Big Mountain in Whitefish going mach speed, hiking Glacier National Park, or visiting the best places in Montana for 2024 than you’re not taking advantage of the best things that Montana has to offer.
Whether you’re sitting by Flathead Lake, jaunting through Custer National Forest in Billings, or just hanging with the good people of Big Sky Country, Montana is the best. It was tough to narrow down the top ten best places to live in this Northwest state.
But, HomeSnacks did it. How’d we do it? We consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed the 32 cities for important factors like cost of living, crime, unemployment rates, rent and median home values for every place with over 2,000 residents.
We discovered fantastic places in Montana to live for every stage of life and every budget. Glasgow is the best for families just starting, Dillon is excellent for people looking to retire, and make sure to give Sidney a second look if you don’t have to worry about a budget.
Have we piqued your interest? Want to know more about our methodology and where the best places in Montana are located? Keep reading.
What is the best place to live in Montana for 2024? According to the US Census and FBI data, Whitefish is the best place to live in Montana if you care about home values, low crime, and high quality of life.
Read below to see how your hometown and other amazing Montana cities ranked. Hint: if you live in the greater Helena area, consider yourself one lucky Montanan.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the best states in America or the best places to live in America.
For more Montana reading, check out:
- Best Counties To Live In Montana
- Cheapest Places To Live In Montana
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Montana
Next 10 Cities
Mapping The Best And Worst Places To Live in Montana
Best Places To Live In Montana Size Requirement
Before we even started to collect data on the best places to live in Montana, we had to answer a tough question: Is it fair to pit Helena with a population of 32,060 against places with a population of 18?
We firmly decided no, that just isn’t fair.
So to create our ranking, we broke the best places to live into three tiers:
- Cities — Populations over 2,000
- Towns — Populations between 1,000 and 2,000
- Small Towns — Populations below 1,000
This left us with 32 cities, 62 towns, and 215 small towns.
We then decided, no matter how much anyone loves their town, the best cities to live in Montana have more of everything and therefore you need to have over 2,000 people to truly be ‘the best’.
Now we also realize that city living might not be your cup of tea, so we ran the same analysis on the best towns and then again for the best small towns.
You can see the results of those best place rankings at the end of the article.
Summary: The Best Places In Montana
If you’re looking at areas in Montana with the best economic situations, where there’s lower than average crime, and a lot to do, this is an accurate list.
Whitefish made a strong showing to take in the overall number one spot for the best place to live in Montana for 2024.
Best Towns To Live In Montana
- King Arthur Park (Pop. 1,137)
- Scobey (Pop. 1,175)
- Montana City (Pop. 2,878)
- Four Corners (Pop. 4,003)
- Glasgow (Pop. 3,363)
- Colstrip (Pop. 2,288)
- Helena Valley Northwest (Pop. 3,967)
- Plentywood (Pop. 1,881)
- Baker (Pop. 1,866)
- West Glendive (Pop. 1,922)
Best Small Towns To Live In Montana
- Belknap (Pop. 291)
- Kerr (Pop. 115)
- Turah (Pop. 426)
- South Hills (Pop. 529)
- Park City (Pop. 944)
- Sweet Grass (Pop. 95)
- Saddle Butte (Pop. 175)
- Huntley (Pop. 478)
- Gibson Flats (Pop. 253)
- Rader Creek (Pop. 234)
If you’re curious enough, here are the worst places to live in Montana according to the data:
- Townsend (Pop. 2,224)
- Polson (Pop. 5,161)
- Hardin (Pop. 3,754)
For more Montana reading, check out:
- Best Places To Retire In Montana
- Richest Cities In Montana
- Safest Places In Montana
- Worst Places To Live In Montana
