The 10 Best Counties To Live In Montana For 2024


The best counties in Montana are Mccone County and Gallatin County for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Montana a good place?

The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Montana.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Treasure State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.

The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Montana, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 56 counties in the state.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | FAQs | Summary


Mccone County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Montana. And you should avoid Glacier County if you can — at least according to the data.

Now you know exactly where to move in Montana. Keep on reading for more about the top ten and a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in Montana and the cheapest places to live in Montana.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The Best Counties To Live In Montana For 2024

1. Mccone County

Biggest Place: Circle
Population: 1,746
Median Income: $79,022 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $281,631 (27th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.5% (19th best)
More on Mccone CountyData

2. Gallatin County

Belgrade, MT

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Bozeman
Population: 119,685
Median Income: $83,434 (best)
Median Home Price: $679,405 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.1% (14th best)
More on Gallatin CountyData

3. Stillwater County

Columbus, MT

Source: Wikipedia User Bradley Gordon from Lakewood, Colorado, U.S.A. | CC BY 2.0

Biggest Place: Columbus
Population: 8,978
Median Income: $78,380 (4th best)
Median Home Price: $435,241 (12th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.6% (20th best)
More on Stillwater CountyData

4. Lewis And Clark County

Helena, MT

Source: Wikipedia User RTC at English Wikipedia | GFDL

Biggest Place: Helena
Population: 71,487
Median Income: $71,967 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $435,497 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5% (3best)
More on Lewis And Clark CountyData

5. Jefferson County

Basin, MT

Source: Wikipedia User Finetooth | GFDL

Biggest Place: Montana City
Population: 12,273
Median Income: $73,875 (5th best)
Median Home Price: $502,446 (8th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.4% (29th best)
More on Jefferson CountyData

6. Flathead County

Kalispell, MT

Source: Wikipedia User User: Dan Petesch | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Kalispell
Population: 105,950
Median Income: $68,025 (10th best)
Median Home Price: $604,379 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.2% (25th best)
More on Flathead CountyData

7. Yellowstone County

Billings, MT

Source: Wikipedia User Sara goth | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Billings
Population: 165,524
Median Income: $72,300 (6th best)
Median Home Price: $379,048 (17th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5% (32nd best)
More on Yellowstone CountyData

8. Petroleum County

Biggest Place: Winnett
Population: 416
Median Income: $57,981 (35th best)
Median Home Price: $189,645 (5best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.8% (6th best)
More on Petroleum CountyData

9. Dawson County

Glendive, MT

Source: Wikipedia User Larry D. Moore | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Glendive
Population: 8,915
Median Income: $68,168 (9th best)
Median Home Price: $217,265 (46th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.0% (23rd best)
More on Dawson CountyData

10. Fallon County

Baker, MT

Source: Wikipedia User Shawn from Airdrie, Canada | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Baker
Population: 2,941
Median Income: $79,750 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $218,868 (45th best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0% (2nd best)
More on Fallon CountyData

Methodology: How do you determine which Montana county is the best?

To give you the best county in Montana, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.

With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.

We paid particular attention to:

  • Violent Crime Rates
  • Property Crime Rates
  • Median Home Values
  • Median Income
  • Unemployment Rates
  • Adult Education Levels
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Poverty Rates

We then ranked each county in Montana across each of the criteria from one to 56, with one being the best.

Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Montana.”

The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Treasure State.

We updated this article for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best counties to live in Montana.

Read on to see why Mccone County is the best county, while Glacier County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Montana.

Summary: The Best Counties In Montana To Call Home For 2024

Living in Montana can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

The best counties in Montana are McCone County, Gallatin County, Stillwater County, Lewis and Clark County, Jefferson County, Flathead County, Yellowstone County, Petroleum County, Dawson County, and Fallon County.

But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.

You are welcome.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in Montana according to the data:

  1. Glacier County
  2. Big Horn County
  3. Blaine County

For more Montana reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Montana

Rank County Population Median Income Median Home Price
1 Mccone County 1,746 $79,022 $281,631
2 Gallatin County 119,685 $83,434 $679,405
3 Stillwater County 8,978 $78,380 $435,241
4 Lewis And Clark County 71,487 $71,967 $435,497
5 Jefferson County 12,273 $73,875 $502,446
6 Flathead County 105,950 $68,025 $604,379
7 Yellowstone County 165,524 $72,300 $379,048
8 Petroleum County 416 $57,981 $189,645
9 Dawson County 8,915 $68,168 $217,265
10 Fallon County 2,941 $79,750 $218,868
11 Madison County 8,742 $61,226 $677,090
12 Park County 17,320 $67,602 $556,185
13 Missoula County 118,541 $66,840 $534,922
14 Sweet Grass County 3,697 $64,872 $406,214
15 Treasure County 680 $70,096 $213,706
16 Meagher County 1,948 $55,753 $296,132
17 Richland County 11,366 $67,515 $302,677
18 Garfield County 976 $61,786 $261,713
19 Carbon County 10,645 $66,780 $465,237
20 Daniels County 1,535 $47,378 $228,211
21 Cascade County 84,423 $61,351 $307,508
22 Powell County 6,998 $60,994 $295,727
23 Ravalli County 44,876 $67,424 $548,271
24 Judith Basin County 2,039 $58,750 $279,012
25 Beaverhead County 9,469 $55,867 $350,890
26 Custer County 11,957 $61,114 $263,745
27 Teton County 6,238 $65,224 $307,593
28 Broadwater County 6,977 $61,679 $479,231
29 Phillips County 4,233 $61,250 $250,691
30 Powder River County 1,773 $60,313 $285,340
31 Sheridan County 3,700 $67,457 $201,960
32 Wibaux County 1,119 $58,750 $240,270
33 Mineral County 4,652 $56,098 $361,889
34 Fergus County 11,496 $58,321 $255,808
35 Granite County 3,368 $53,917 $429,426
36 Valley County 7,552 $59,725 $197,615
37 Silver Bow County 35,306 $56,297 $266,938
38 Chouteau County 5,897 $51,791 $258,025
39 Musselshell County 4,924 $54,875 $225,515
40 Lake County 31,509 $58,009 $560,235
41 Hill County 16,238 $58,427 $252,662
42 Liberty County 1,993 $48,047 $230,982
43 Golden Valley County 841 $54,792 $215,165
44 Carter County 1,332 $46,486 $180,560
45 Sanders County 12,615 $47,110 $427,908
46 Toole County 5,018 $54,040 $172,260
47 Wheatland County 2,060 $48,272 $170,503
48 Pondera County 5,987 $59,861 $237,872
49 Deer Lodge County 9,435 $46,436 $252,733
50 Lincoln County 20,157 $44,593 $420,939
51 Prairie County 1,283 $44,107 $142,751
52 Roosevelt County 10,799 $51,038 $290,164
53 Rosebud County 8,310 $57,656 $233,975
54 Blaine County 7,030 $58,507 $221,009
55 Big Horn County 13,090 $52,463 $227,948
56 Glacier County 13,781 $41,078 $171,336
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.