Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Butte-Silver Bow’s subject grades are an A for walkability, the outdoors, and history; the weakest is a C for incomes. 63% of working residents work locally in Butte-Silver Bow, above both Montana’s towns (37%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 9 of Montana’s 95 towns score higher on hazard risk. 56% of the land in Butte-Silver Bow is conserved, where Montana’s towns sit at 9.1% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Its National Register listings include Butte-Anaconda Historic District (Additional Documentation) and Burton K. Wheeler House. No town in Montana scores lower than Butte-Silver Bow on civic life. Butte-Silver Bow has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety, schools and health, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
Where Butte-Silver Bow beats most towns.
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1864.
21 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Butte-Silver Bow is from typical.
Butte-Silver Bow has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety, schools and health, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Butte-Silver Bow, 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 Butte-Silver Bow.
413 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Humbug Spires Wilderness Study Area, 11,204 acres with 2 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fleecer Mountain Wildlife Management Area | 7.4 mi | 7,720 |
| 2. Stodden Park | 2.2 mi | 119 |
| 3. Humbug Spires Wilderness Study Area | 2 mi | 11,204 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Butte Elementary District. Three of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 664 | C+ |
| Butte High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,266 | C+ |
| Hillcrest SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 412 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts
Butte-Silver Bow has cold winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. The July high in Butte-Silver Bow is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
15% of Butte-Silver Bow residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Missoula (5%), Helena (5%) and Bozeman (4%). Butte-Silver Bow’s average trip to work is 17 minutes.
| Butte-Silver Bow | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $68,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.6% | 8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Montana average. Butte-Silver Bow has grown 2.8% since 2020, to 36,118 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Montana.
| Butte-Silver Bow | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 20% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 19% | 18% |
48.4% women, 51.6% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women. Median age: women 42.0, men 38.6.
| Butte-Silver Bow | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.2% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.8% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.6% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.1% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.3% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.6% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.9% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.6% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.4% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.4% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9% | 12% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Butte-Silver Bow. Close and well known come first.
in town LakeBerkeley Pit
in town MuseumDumas Brothel
in town Theme parkColumbia Gardens
in town MuseumMai Wah Museumin town MuseumWorld Museum of Mining38 mi Ski areaDiscovery Ski Area50 runs · 2,443 ft verticalBerkeley Pit: Cybergrl23, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dumas Brothel: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Columbia Gardens: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Mai Wah Museum: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Butte-Silver Bow
About 7 of every 100 Butte-Silver Bow residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
2 colleges in town.
21 places in Butte-Silver Bow on the National Register of Historic Places.
Consolidated city-county in Montana, United States
Butte ( BYEWT) is a consolidated city-county in and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers 718 square miles (1,860 km2), and, according to the 2020 census, has a population of 34,494, making it Montana's fifth-largest city. It is served by Bert Mooney Airport with airport code BTM. Established in 1864 as a mining camp in the northern Rocky Mountains on the Continental Divide, Butte experienced rapid development in the late 19th century, and was Montana's first major industrial city. In its heyday between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was one …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Butte-Silver Bow.
| Town | MT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butte-Silver Bow | — | — | C | — | — | — |
| Anaconda-Deer Lodge County | #30 | C | B− | — | C | C+ |
| Dewey | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wise River | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Butte-Silver Bow and Anaconda-Deer Lodge County report no FBI crime data of their own. Butte-Silver Bow, Dewey and Wise River aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Butte-Silver Bow with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Butte-Silver Bow has no overall grade: it has no figures for safety, schools and health, and an overall grade needs at least three of the four big subjects (cost of living, safety, schools and health).
The typical home is worth about $255,000. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
