Helena Valley NorthwestMT
With 5,183 residents, it is a town in Montana.
Is Helena Valley Northwest a good place to live?
A town of contrasts. Its weakest is walkability (D). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Where it does best is health — CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 85% of the country. At about $404K, a typical home costs 5.1 years of the Helena metro’s $79K median household income. All told, that adds up to a C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns. That places it 18th of 41 in Montana. Helena Valley Northwest has 2 places on the National Register.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Helena Valley Northwest has grown 35% from 2010 to 2020
3,482 counted in 2010 and 4,705 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Helena Valley Northwest grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Helena Valley Northwest is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Helena Valley Northwest: who provides what
Helena Valley Northwest is unincorporated, so Lewis and Clark 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 Helena Valley Northwest.
Helena Valley Northwest has less tooth loss than most of Montana and has a shorter frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Montana; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Montana (mostly inland flooding).
Helena Valley Northwest’s grade for health is an A
Its widest gap with Montana is tooth loss: 6.4% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 12.3% statewide.
Helena Valley Northwest: 30% of adults feel lonely, where Montana’s towns sit at 31% and U.S. towns at 33%. Among 41 Montana towns, just 2 have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Helena Valley Northwest. Also worth knowing: for adults in the town, the share who binge drink is 22%. Against the Montana average, Helena Valley Northwest comes out ahead on 13 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1.
| Helena Valley Northwest | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 32% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 36% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.5% | 10% | 12% |
| What stands out | Helena Valley Northwest | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.4% | 12.3% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 69.7% | 73.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Helena Valley Northwest’s schools rank ahead of 68% of Montana districts
Public schools: the Helena Elementary District. Its one school is below. Enrollment at Helena Valley Northwest’s public school: 473 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Darcy SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 473 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
A smaller share of residents live below the poverty line in Helena Valley Northwest than in most of Montana or the rest of the country
Helena Valley Northwest has 400 jobs for its 2,276 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Jobs based in Helena Valley Northwest grew to 400 in 2023, 48 more than in 2013. Helena Valley Northwest’s typical household income comes in at $101,000. 4.7% of Helena Valley Northwest working residents work locally. In Helena Valley Northwest, the average trip to work is 22 minutes, above Montana’s towns (17 minutes) but below U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Helena Valley Northwest | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 41% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.6% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $101,000 | $66,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Top of a high hazard risk in Helena Valley Northwest: inland flooding
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of Montana towns; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
36% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 29%. Helena Valley Northwest’s risk rating from FEMA is 72 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More children than Montana overall
The share of residents in Helena Valley Northwest who are under 18: 30%. Children under 18 are 30% of residents (21% statewide); people 65 and older are 12% of residents (20% statewide). The age of the median resident for Helena Valley Northwest comes to 35.7 years. Montana has just over a third of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 36%.
| Helena Valley Northwest | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 30% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 12% | 19% | 18% |
| Median age | 35.7 years | 39 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 30% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±10 points. Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 91% are women (MT 47%).
| Helena Valley Northwest | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.7% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.9% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.9% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.1% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.9% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.7% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.8% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.6% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.2% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.3% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.8% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.4% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.3% | 12% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expect four seasons and pleasant summers in Helena Valley Northwest
The Helena Rgnl Ap weather station, 10 miles away, 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 Valley Northwest brings cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. Summer afternoons peak near 85° in July, and January nights bottom out around 15°; snowfall runs to about 37 inches a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes in Helena Valley Northwest sell for about $515K
On the market in Helena Valley Northwest: a median 56 days to sell. Only 2 of the 42 Montana towns we compare have a higher share of households owning their home than Helena Valley Northwest. For Helena Valley Northwest, the rent at the middle of the market is $1,603 a month.
| Helena Valley Northwest | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 95% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,603 a month | $994 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Helena Valley Northwest
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Helena Valley Northwest
About 3 of every 100 Helena Valley Northwest residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
95% of working residents leave Helena Valley Northwest for work
Where Helena Valley Northwest’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Helena Valley Northwest
CDP in Montana, United States
Helena Valley Northwest is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Helena Valley Northwest had a population of 4,705. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 16 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,967 ft
- Area code
- 406
Helena Valley Northwest’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Helena Valley Northwest.
| Town | MT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helena Valley Northwest | #18 | C+ | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Helena Valley West Central | #10 | B | C+ | — | B+ | A− |
| Helena Valley Northeast | #20 | C+ | C− | — | B+ | B |
Helena Valley Northwest, Helena Valley West Central and Helena Valley Northeast report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Helena Valley Northwest with a neighbor →
Questions about Helena Valley Northwest
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Helena Valley Northwest, MT a good place to live?
Helena Valley Northwest grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #18 of 41 in Montana. It grades A for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Helena Valley Northwest, MT expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $404,000, 14% below the Montana typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.