CusterMT
With 199 residents, this town was settled in 1905.
Is Custer a good place to live?
Custer’s typical journey to work is 32 minutes, against 17 minutes in Montana’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Among 43 Montana towns, just one has a higher age of the median resident than Custer. Custer has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
199 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Custer: who provides what
Custer is unincorporated, so Yellowstone County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Custer.
Four seasons and hot summers: that is Custer’s year
Summer afternoons peak near 89° in July, and January nights bottom out around 11°; snowfall runs to about 37 inches a winter. The seasons in Custer: cold, snowy winters, warm summers, with very little rain.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The schools Custer’s kids attend
Of its 3 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The Custer K-12 Schools runs its public schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custer SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 49 | B− |
| Custer High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 26 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts
The typical home in Custer is valued at about $372K
Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home lost 2% of its value. 78% of Custer households are owner-occupiers.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A smaller share of working residents in Custer work locally than in the typical Montana or U.S. town
A fifth of residents live below the poverty line in Custer. The top destinations are Billings (43%), Worden (8%) and Hardin (4%). Half the trips to work are shorter than 52 miles.
| Custer | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.9% | 39% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 10% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Custer stands out in Montana and nationally: a larger share of its adults have high blood pressure
The share of adults in Custer who report frequent physical distress: 16%. Among 42 Montana towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who have diabetes than Custer. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Custer is ahead of Montana on 5 and behind on 11.
| Custer | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 32% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 10% | 12% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 78% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Custer | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 17.1% | 20.3% |
| More adults getting a yearly checkup | 78.4% | 72.4% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.8% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Moderate risk in Custer, with inland flooding at the top
Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 57% of Custer’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 21% to cold waves. Federal aid has come to Custer households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2022.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A typical Montana spread of ages in Custer
Here, 30% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 35% in Montana as a whole. Age groups here sit within 4 points of the Montana average.
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
Somewhere between 31% and 58% women
The Census survey reached too few of Custer’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±13.4 points. Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women.
| Custer | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.6% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.1% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.1% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 5% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 4% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 30.7% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.5% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.1% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.4% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.6% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.3% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.9% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.5% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.3% | 12% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 200, single groups can be off by several points
0% of Custer is conserved land
Custer’s concentration of trails comes in at 1.0 miles per square mile. Walkers can cover 0.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. It has one park or preserve, 2 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Custer
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Custer; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Custer residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
Questions about Custer
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Custer, MT a good place to live?
Custer has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.