Racial diversity in Montana is a mixed bag.
There are parts of Montana where there’s a high level of diversity. But where will you find the most diverse places in Montana?
To answer that question, we went to the US Census data. Using Saturday Night Science, we measured the Gini coefficient for all 18 cities in Montana to rank them from most to least diverse.
#1 most diverse in Montana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Hill County, Montana
Havre is the county seat and largest town in Hill County, Montana, in the United States. It is said to be named after the city of Le Havre in France. As of the 2010 census the population was 9,310, and in 2016 the estimated population was 9,846.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Cascade County, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The 2015 census estimate put the population at 59,638. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County and has a population of 82,278. Great Falls was the largest city in Montana from 1950 to 1970, when Billings surpassed it. Great Falls remained the second largest city in Montana until 2000, when it was passed by Missoula. Since then Great Falls has been the third largest city in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Yellowstone County, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the state of Montana, and the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area with a population of 166,855. It has a trade area of over half a million people.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Yellowstone County, Montana
Laurel is a city in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. It is the third largest community in the Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is located in the Yellowstone Valley, as an east-west terminal division point of the Burlington-Northern Railroad. The population was 6,781 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Richland County, Montana
Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Montana, United States, less than 10mi away from the North Dakota border. The population was 5,191 at the 2010 census. The city lies along the Yellowstone River and is in proximity to the badlands of the Dakotas. Sidney is approximately midway between Glendive, Montana and Williston, North Dakota.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Gallatin County, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2010 census put Bozeman’s population at 37,280 and by 2016 the population rose to 45,250, making it the fourth largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, MT Micropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of all of Gallatin County with a population of 97,304. It is the largest Micropolitan Statistical Area in Montana and is the third largest of all of Montana-s statistical areas.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Missoula County, Montana
Missoula is a city in the U.S. state of Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluences with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five mountain ranges, thus is often described as the “hub of five valleys”. In 2016, the United States Census Bureau estimated the city’s population at 72,364 and the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Area at 116,130. In the 1990s, Missoula overtook GreatFalls as Montana-s secondlargest city, behind Billings. Missoula is home to the University of Montana, a public research university.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Gallatin County, Montana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 most diverse in Montana
Located in
Lewis and Clark County, Montana
Helena is the state capital of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Montana’s statewide median.
On the map
Where diversity lives in Montana
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most diverse cities in Montana for 2026
We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census — and Saturday Night Science. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Montana.
That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2020-2024 American Community Survey data from the US Census.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
- Hispanic or Latino
We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 18 cities.
We then calculated the HHI for each city by finding the racial breakdown of a city in percent terms, squaring them, and then adding the squares together. This left us with scores ranging from 4,903 (Polson) to 8,784 (Columbia Falls).
Finally, we ranked each city based on the HHI, with a lower score being more diverse than a high score. Polson took the distinction of being the most diverse, while Columbia Falls was the least diverse city.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the most diverse places in Montana.
The full plate
Race By City In Montana For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | HHI | % White | % Black | % Hispanic | % Asian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polson | 5,428 | 4,903 | 67.4% | 0.3% | 7.6% | 0.3% |
| 2 | Havre | 9,258 | 5,783 | 74.4% | 0.4% | 4.1% | 0.0% |
| 3 | Great Falls | 60,329 | 6,858 | 82.3% | 1.0% | 5.1% | 1.0% |
| 4 | Billings | 119,434 | 6,901 | 82.5% | 0.4% | 7.4% | 0.8% |
| 5 | Laurel | 7,215 | 6,960 | 82.8% | 0.4% | 8.2% | 2.1% |
| 6 | Sidney | 6,171 | 7,137 | 83.8% | 0.0% | 8.0% | 0.2% |
| 7 | Bozeman | 56,114 | 7,247 | 84.8% | 0.8% | 6.2% | 2.1% |
| 8 | Missoula | 76,514 | 7,249 | 84.7% | 0.4% | 5.7% | 1.1% |
| 9 | Belgrade | 11,872 | 7,304 | 85.0% | 0.3% | 6.9% | 0.5% |
| 10 | Helena | 33,639 | 7,523 | 86.4% | 0.8% | 4.7% | 0.5% |
| 11 | Kalispell | 28,504 | 7,684 | 87.4% | 0.1% | 5.4% | 1.4% |
| 12 | Miles City | 8,407 | 7,849 | 88.3% | 0.0% | 4.2% | 0.6% |
| 13 | Anaconda-Deer Lodge County | 9,597 | 8,010 | 89.3% | 0.4% | 3.5% | 0.2% |
| 14 | Lewistown | 6,087 | 8,123 | 90.0% | 1.0% | 3.9% | 0.7% |
| 15 | Livingston | 8,780 | 8,637 | 92.8% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 0.3% |
| 16 | Hamilton | 5,101 | 8,673 | 93.0% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 0.0% |
| 17 | Whitefish | 8,749 | 8,782 | 93.6% | 0.0% | 2.2% | 0.0% |
| 18 | Columbia Falls | 5,615 | 8,784 | 93.6% | 0.0% | 2.9% | 0.7% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 18 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Diversity Across Montana
If you’re looking for a scientific breakdown of diversity across Montana, this is an accurate list.
The most diverse cities in Montana are Polson, Havre, Great Falls, Billings, Laurel, Sidney, Bozeman, Missoula, Belgrade, and Helena.
