The Best College Towns In Montana For 2024
By Nick Johnson & Chris Kolmar | 01/18/2024
Believe it or not, America has the best colleges in the world. It's been proven by data (and surveys) that the U.S. educational system is of the highest quality
It's actually not even close and Montana is home to a handful of them.
While we could debate which colleges within Montana are the 'best,' that's not the goal of this post.
Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in Montana are the best.
You know, the type of places where there's energy and stimulation, but the type of place you can walk around at night. The happiest, chillest, most downright fun places where you can send your kids off to college where you won't break the bank, or worry about their well being.
While some of these may not seem like a 'real' college town per se, when you look at the numbers, it's hard to argue against.
And for those who live in Havre, Missoula and Helena - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Havre ranks in terms of the best college town in America.
Even though there are only 5 cities on our list, you need to remember there are another 362 places in Montana that don't even have a college. One might say you gotta be in it in to win it.
Read on to find out more or for more on Montana check out:
Population: 9,332
% Undergrad Pop.: 14.9% (best)
Median Rent: $815 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 320.8% (best)
Crime Rank: 3rd best
More on Havre: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Montana State University-Northern
Population: 74,627
% Undergrad Pop.: 14.3% (2nd best)
Median Rent: $1,064 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 459.3% (5th best)
Crime Rank: 2nd best
More on Missoula: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: The University of Montana, Modern Beauty School Inc, The University of Montana - Missoula College
Population: 32,529
% Undergrad Pop.: 3.8% (3rd best)
Median Rent: $969 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 324.9% (2nd best)
Crime Rank: best
More on Helena: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Carroll College, Helena College University of Montana
Population: 60,373
% Undergrad Pop.: 1.5% (5th best)
Median Rent: $828 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 342.7% (3rd best)
Crime Rank: 4th best
More on Great Falls: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: University of Great Falls, Great Falls College Montana State University, Montana Academy of Salons
Population: 117,093
% Undergrad Pop.: 3.5% (4th best)
Median Rent: $1,064 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 364.6% (4th best)
Crime Rank: 5th best
More on Billings: Real Estate | Cost Of Living | Crime Report
Colleges: Montana State University-Billings, Rocky Mountain College, Bold Beauty Academy
To crunch our data on Montana's best college towns, we used Saturday Night Science to decide which qualities (or rankings) make sense to use in the data, and then crunch the numbers for our rankings.
First off, we firmly decided that only cities with a 4 year college should make the cut -- so there has to be at least one college granting bachelors degrees in town.
You might be surprised to hear that there are only 5 places in Montana with an institution of higher learning with that criteria.
Source of data include OpenStreetMaps, the College Scorecard, the U.S. Census, and FBI reporting data to include the following factors:
We ranked each city across each of the criteria, with one being the best.
We rolled up the individual scores into the category and ranked them again based on the category.
Finally, we took the average rank across each category, with the city posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title "Best College Town In Montana For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in Montana.
And it looks like Havre placed Summa Cum Laude.
If you're looking for the best college towns in Montana, you came to the right place.
The best college towns in Montana are Havre, Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, and Billings.
These places all have great college sports programs, tons of stuff to do, and are great places to raise a family.
For more reading, check out:
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havre, MT | 9332 |
| 2 | Missoula, MT | 74627 |
| 3 | Helena, MT | 32529 |
| 4 | Great Falls, MT | 60373 |
| 5 | Billings, MT | 117093 |
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