Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Helena's standout: it has 75 miles of trail. Overall it grades B−, ranked 12th of 41 in Montana. Residents are healthier than 85% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 92% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is safety: it reports more crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, including 206 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 63% of working residents work locally in Helena, where Montana’s towns sit at 37% and U.S. towns at 8%. On hazard risk, just 1 of Montana’s 95 towns do better. Its National Register listings include Kluge House and Helena Historic District.
Where Helena beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Former Montana Executive Mansion
Census counts: 3,106 in 1870, 32,091 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1870 and 4 maps from 1899 on.
52 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Helena is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Helena, 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 Helena.
Helena carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Montana (mostly cold waves), draws workers from Helena Valley Southeast and beyond and fares better on crime within Montana than nationally.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #1 of 42 in Montana.
Helena’s trail density is 4.3 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Mount Helena City Park, 1,039 acres with 29.4 miles of trail. More trails than any other town in Montana.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Helena City Park | 29.4 mi | 1,039 |
| 2. Mount Ascension Park | 14 mi | 488 |
| 3. Dale Harris Park | 1.5 mi | 24 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Helena Elementary District. Three of its 22 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| C R Anderson Middle SchlLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 962 | B+ |
| Capital High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,293 | B |
| Jefferson SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 245 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
30,895 jobs are based in Helena, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
The average trip to work in Helena is 14 minutes. Among 42 Montana towns, just 3 have a higher share of workers working from home than Helena. The top destinations are Helena West Side (4%), Missoula (3%) and Bozeman (3%).
| Helena | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 16% | 7.7% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.8% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $66,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 51.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 76% of Montana’s graded towns.
Helena reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 91% report less.
| Helena | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 28.9 per 1,000 residents | 14.1 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.8 per 1,000 residents | 4.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 95% of Montana towns, with expected losses of about $213 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Only 2 of the 41 Montana towns we compare have a lower FEMA risk score than Helena. Since 1978, 16 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Helena.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
29% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Helena. Helena beats the Montana average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 17% of adults get no exercise outside work in Helena.
| Helena | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Helena | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.6% | 12.3% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.2% | 11.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Helena Rgnl Ap weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 142 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 96% of Montana places with climate records.
Helena has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 15° and about 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Helena home is worth about $478,000, up 2.9% in a year, close to the Montana typical home. 53% of Helena households own their home.
| Helena | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 65% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 40% | 43% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,092 a month | $994 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Helena
About 7 of every 100 Helena residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
23.9% of the town is conserved land, across 44 parks and preserves.
52 places in Helena on the National Register of Historic Places.
53 notable people were born in Helena.
Capital city of Montana, United States
Helena (; ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Its population was 32,091 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth-most populous city in Montana, but the fifth-least populous state capital in the U.S. It is the principal city of the Helena, Montana metropolitan area, which includes all of Lewis and Clark, and Jefferson counties; the MSA's population was 83,058 at the 2020 census. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush on July 14, 1864, following the discovery of gold at Last Chance Gulch by the Four Georgians. It was formally established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena became a wealthy city, with…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Helena.
| Town | MT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helena | #12 | B− | C | D | B+ | A− |
| Helena Valley West Central | #10 | B | C+ | — | B+ | A− |
| Helena West Side | — | — | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Helena Valley Southeast | #19 | C+ | C+ | — | B+ | B− |
| East Helena | — | — | C+ | C | B | B |
| Helena Valley Northeast | #20 | C+ | C− | — | B+ | B |
Helena West Side and East Helena have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Helena Valley West Central, Helena West Side, Helena Valley Southeast and Helena Valley Northeast report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Helena with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Helena grades B− overall, better than 51% of U.S. towns and #12 of 41 in Montana. It grades A− for health, D for safety and B+ for schools, and has the most trail per square mile in the state. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 6.1 years of the area's median household income ($78,528 across the Helena, 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 C.
53 notable people were born here, including Gary Cooper and Myrna Loy.
