Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hamilton's standout: it has 8 miles of trail. Overall it grades C+, 23rd of 41 graded towns in Montana. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 87% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is safety: its crime rate is higher than 86% of U.S. towns, with 29 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Hamilton’s trail density is 3.0 miles per square mile, above both the Montana town median (0.6) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Its National Register listings include Riverside and Ravalli County Courthouse. Among 42 Montana towns, just 2 have a higher median age than Hamilton.
Where Hamilton beats most towns.
Daly, Marcus, Memorial Hospital
Census counts: 50 in 1880, 4,659 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1964 on.
28 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Hamilton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hamilton, 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 Hamilton.
Hamilton draws workers from Missoula and beyond, fares better on crime within Montana than nationally and has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #2 of 42 in Montana.
7.7 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Hieronymus Park, 59 acres with 2.9 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hieronymus Park | 2.9 mi | 59 |
| 2. Skalkaho Bend Park | 2.3 mi | 57 |
| 3. River Park | 1.2 mi | 56 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Hamilton K-12 Schools. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Hamilton High School, with 460 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daly SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 539 | C+ |
| Hamilton High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 460 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
5,666 jobs are based in Hamilton, 2.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 12.2 minutes, against 19.1 across Montana.
45% of Hamilton’s working residents work right in town. Hamilton’s average trip to work is 12 minutes, below both Montana’s towns (17 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Jobs based in Hamilton grew to 5,666 in 2023, 1,167 more than in 2013.
| Hamilton | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 45% | 37% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 12 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $49,000 | $68,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.8% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 43.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 68% of Montana’s graded towns.
Hamilton’s violent crime rate is 5.2 per 1,000 residents. Hamilton reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 86% report less. Hamilton’s property crime rate is 21.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Hamilton | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.2 per 1,000 residents | 4.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 21.8 per 1,000 residents | 14.1 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
People 65 and older are 34% of residents (20% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (22% statewide). 14% of residents are under 18 in Hamilton. Hamilton has grown 16% since 2020, to 5,451 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Hamilton | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 14% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 30% | 29% |
58% women, 42% men
About 74 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±5.6 points). Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women.
| Hamilton | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5.3% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.6% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.8% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.9% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.1% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.2% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 18.3% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.5% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.4% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.3% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.1% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 13.9% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.8% | 12% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 5,477 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hamilton’s, it is healthier than 97%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Hamilton beats the Montana average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 30% of Hamilton adults sleep under 7 hours. Only 3 of the 41 Montana towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Hamilton.
| Hamilton | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 72% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 20% | 16% |
| What stands out | Hamilton | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.5% | 6.5% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.2% | 73.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.9% | 9.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Stevensville weather station, 18 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 115 days, shorter than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Hamilton has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 20° and about 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 62% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 7.4 years of the county’s $71K median household income, the typical home (about $529K) costs more against local pay than in 77% of Montana towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The typical Hamilton home is worth about $529,000, up 1.2% in a year, 13% above the Montana typical home.
| Hamilton | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $947 a month | $1,004 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Hamilton; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Hamilton residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
16.8% of the town is conserved land, across 9 parks and preserves.
28 places in Hamilton on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Hamilton.
City in Montana, United States
Hamilton is a city that serves as the county seat of Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 4,659 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hamilton grades C+ overall, better than 39% of U.S. towns and #23 of 41 in Montana. It grades B+ for health, D for safety and B+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 7.4 years of the area's median household income ($71,283 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
9 notable people were born here, including Suzanna Son and Robert Lee Gilbertson.
