Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,305, settled in 1871.
Boulder’s best subject grades are an A for cost of living and walkability and an A− for schools; its weakest is a C− for hazard risk. 2.8% of working residents work locally in Boulder, below both Montana’s towns (39%) and U.S. towns (8%). On cost of living, just 4 of Montana’s 95 towns do better. Boulder has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Boulder Hot Springs Hotel and Jefferson County Courthouse. Boulder has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Boulder beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Boulder Elementary School | PK–6 | 166 |
| Boulder 7-8 | 7–8 | 49 |
| Jefferson High School | 9–12 | 306 |
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Boulder is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 214 in 1880, a low of 214 in 1880, 1,201 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1936 and a map from 1954 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Boulder, 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 Boulder.
Its public schools are run by the Jefferson High School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Jefferson High School, with 306 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 166 | B |
| Jefferson High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 306 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Boulder for work: only 3% work in town. 3.8% of residents live below the poverty line in Boulder, where Montana’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Jobs based in Boulder fell to 250 in 2023, 226 fewer than in 2013.
| Boulder | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.8% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 77% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Boulder home is worth about $343,000, up 1.3% in a year, 27% below the Montana typical home. The median rent in Boulder is $928 a month.
| Boulder | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 73% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $928 a month | $1,000 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Boulder tracks Montana closely on all 32 CDC measures. 28% of adults feel lonely in Boulder.
| Boulder | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 72% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Boulder has cold winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. Boulder’s July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Boulder; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Boulder residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Montana.
Where Boulder’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Boulder on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Montana, United States
Boulder is a town in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Montana, United States. It is on the north bank of the Boulder River between Butte and Helena, slightly east of the Continental Divide, at the intersection of Interstate 15 and Montana Highway 69. The population was 1,201 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Lewis and Clark and Jefferson counties; its population is 83,058 according to the 2020 Census. Established in the 19th century as a stagecoach station, Boulder grew into a regional trading center for farmers, ranchers, and miners and, by the end of that century, home to state schools for the deaf, blind and developm…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
