Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 598, settled in 1887.
9% of working residents work locally in Big Sandy, below the Montana town median (39%) and near the median of U.S. towns (8%). Among 43 Montana towns, just 4 have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Big Sandy. Big Sandy has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Census counts: 589 in 1920, a peak of 954 in 1960, 605 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 2012 and 2 maps from 1969 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Big Sandy, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Big Sandy.
The typical Big Sandy home is worth about $260,000, up 13.2% in a year, 44% below the Montana typical home. 75% of Big Sandy households own their home, where Montana’s towns sit at 64% and U.S. towns at 73%.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Big Sandy K-12 school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| F E Miley SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 94 | B− |
| Big Sandy High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 59 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 74% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Big Sandy has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 7° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average trip to work in Big Sandy is 17 minutes. The top destinations are Fort Benton (10%), Great Falls (10%) and Geraldine (5%). The median household income in Big Sandy is $61,000.
| Big Sandy | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.5% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Big Sandy beats the Montana average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 17% of adults report frequent physical distress in Big Sandy. Only 2 of the 42 Montana towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Big Sandy.
| Big Sandy | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Big Sandy | MT |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77% | 73.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.1% | 12.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.2 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Among 43 Montana towns, just 3 have a lower share of conserved land than Big Sandy.
| Big Sandy | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.2% | 9.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Paul Williams Memorial Rest Area | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Big Sandy
About 1 of every 100 Big Sandy residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
Town in Montana, United States
Big Sandy is a town in Chouteau County, Montana, United States. The population was 605 at the 2020 census. The Lewis and Clark Trail, following U.S. Route 87, goes through Big Sandy. Big Sandy native Jeff Ament, Pearl Jam bassist, built the town a skatepark with his Montana Pool Service non-profit organization in 2010. Big Bud 747, claimed to be the largest farm tractor in the world, was located here from 1997 until 2009, and returned in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Big Sandy has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.