Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Frenchtown’s subject grades is an A− for health; the weakest is a D for cost of living. Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Frenchtown has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Frenchtown beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Frenchtown | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.4% | 12.3% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Frenchtown Elementary School | PK–3 | 415 |
| Frenchtown Intermediate School | 4–5 | 171 |
| Frenchtown 6-8 | 6–8 | 311 |
Saint John the Baptist Catholic ChurchWhere Frenchtown’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Frenchtown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 883 in 2000, 1,958 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1959 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Frenchtown is unincorporated, so Missoula 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Frenchtown.
Here, 32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 35% in Montana as a whole. Children under 18 are 38% of residents (21% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 21% of residents (37% statewide). Frenchtown’s midpoint age stands at 33.1 years, against 38.9 years in Montana’s towns and 40.5 years across U.S. towns. For residents in the town, the share who are 65 or older is 23%.
| Frenchtown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.1 years | 38.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 30% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±8.2 points. Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women.
| Frenchtown | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 31% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.9% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.3% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.3% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.5% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 5% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 6% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.7% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.3% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.8% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.3% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.7% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.4% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.8% | 12% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,900, single groups can be off by several points
The largest public high school is Frenchtown High School, with 364 students. The Frenchtown K-12 Schools runs its public schools. Below: Two of its 5 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frenchtown Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 415 | A− |
| Frenchtown High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 364 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Among adults in Frenchtown, 22% binge drink. 27% of Frenchtown adults sleep under 7 hours, below both the Montana town median (32%) and the median of U.S. towns (36%).
| Frenchtown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 25% |
| What stands out | Frenchtown | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.4% | 12.3% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.4% | 11.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Frenchtown, 88% of households live in a home they own. Among 42 Montana towns, just 3 have a higher median rent than Frenchtown.
| Frenchtown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,609 a month | $1,000 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The top destinations are Missoula (52%), Wye (7%) and Helena (3%). Commuting out is the norm in Frenchtown: 5% of working residents work locally. This Montana town had 575 jobs in 2023, up 118 from 2013. Its income of the median household stands at $95,000.
| Frenchtown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 5% | 39% | 8% |
| Median household income | $95,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Frenchtown once, in 2011. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 71% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts two thirds of the town’s expected hazard losses down to avalanches, and 15% to inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Winters in Frenchtown are chilly, snowy and summers warm, with very little rain. Summer afternoons peak near 86° in July, and January nights bottom out around 19°; snowfall runs to about 43 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest park or preserve is Frenchtown Pond State Park, at 55 acres. In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 3.6 miles of trail. The town’s concentration of trails stands at 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Frenchtown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.5% | 9.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Frenchtown Pond State Park | 0.9 mi | 55 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Frenchtown. Close and well known come first.
8 mi LakeLake Missoula
20 mi Park & preserveCSKT Bison Range11 mi Ski areaMontana Snowbowl64 runs · 2,538 ft vertical
16 mi TheatreWilma Theater16 mi MuseumMissoula Art Museum
17 mi MuseumMontana Museum of Art & CultureLake Missoula: USGS, Public domain · CSKT Bison Range: Paul Frederickson, CC BY 2.5 · Wilma Theater: Publichall, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Montana Museum of Art & Culture: DocFreeman24, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Frenchtown; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Frenchtown residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
Census-designated place in Montana, United States
Frenchtown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Missoula metropolitan area. The population was 1,958 as of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 8.7 years of the area's median household income ($74,989 across the Missoula, MT metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
