HaysMT
A town of 1,009, settled in 1899.
Is Hays a good place to live?
Hays’ best subject grade is an A+ for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for incomes. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Hays, where Montana’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On cost of living, just 1 of Montana’s 95 towns do better. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 97% of the country. Only 5 of Montana’s 95 towns score lower on the outdoors. St. Paul’s Mission Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Hays has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,009 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Hays grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Hays is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Hays: who provides what
Hays is unincorporated, so Blaine 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 Hays.
Hays stands out in Montana and nationally, with more of its adults who report frequent physical distress
Among 42 Montana towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Hays. 32% of adults say their health is fair or poor in the town, against 19% in Montana’s towns and 19% across U.S. towns. Hays: 38% of adults feel lonely. CDC measures, 32 in all: Hays beats Montana on 1 and trails on 25.
| Hays | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 19% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hays | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.6% | 9.3% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 35.9% | 11.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Hays’ public schools trail 90% of Montana districts
Two of the 3 schools are below, and why each made the list. Its public schools are run by the Hays-Lodge Pole K-12 Schls school district. 3 public schools serve Hays, with 255 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lodge Pole SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 144 | D |
| Hays-Lodge Pole High SchLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 84 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Very high risk in Hays, with cold waves at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 84% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Hays once, in 2011. 62% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from cold waves, followed by inland flooding at 25%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Hays has 0.8 jobs per working resident, so most workers leave town for work
For half of commuters, work is under 38 miles away. Among working residents in Hays, 39% work locally. The top destinations are Harlem (8%), Missoula (5%) and Helena (4%). In Hays, the mean commuting time is 16 minutes.
| Hays | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 39% | 39% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0% of Hays is conserved land
8.6 miles of trail. Hays’ concentration of trails comes in at 0.3 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Hays
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Hays; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Hays residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Montana.
Questions about Hays
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Hays, MT expensive?
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+.