Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,205, settled in 1886.
Laurel gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $378K for a typical one, or 4.9 years of the Billings metro’s $77K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 17th among Montana's 41 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, including 22 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns. Laurel’s property crime rate is 30.9 per 1,000 residents, above both the Montana town median (14.1) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). Laurel has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Mossman Overpass and Abraham and Carrie Erb House. Among 42 Montana towns, just 3 have a higher July high than Laurel.
Where Laurel beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Laurel is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 50 in 1890, 7,222 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1956 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Laurel, 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 Laurel.
Laurel fares better on crime within Montana than nationally, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has a shorter frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Montana.
At 50.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 72% of Montana’s graded towns. Property crime runs at 30.9 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Montana rate, most of it theft.
The violent crime rate in Laurel is 3 per 1,000 residents. Laurel reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 90% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Laurel Elementary District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Laurel High School, with 578 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 506 | C |
| Laurel High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 578 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Laurel for work: only 18% work in town. Laurel’s average trip to work is 19 minutes. Jobs based in Laurel grew to 2,414 in 2023, 232 more than in 2013.
| Laurel | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 41% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $66,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Laurel.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Billings Wfo weather station, 11 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 149 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 98% of Montana places with climate records.
Laurel has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 15° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
59% of Laurel households own their home. The typical Laurel home is worth about $378,000, up 0.9% in a year, 19% below the Montana typical home.
| Laurel | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $974 a month | $1,004 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 10,383 U.S. towns with household incomes like Laurel’s, it is healthier than 82%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Laurel tracks Montana closely on all 32 CDC measures. 28% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Laurel.
| Laurel | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 20% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 72% | 79% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.5% | 10% | 12% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.9 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Lions Family Park, at 29 acres.
| Laurel | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.6% | 9.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lions Family Park | 0.9 mi | 29 |
| 2. Riverside Park | — | 27 |
| 3. Thompson Park | — | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Laurel. Close and well known come first.
8 mi Zoo & aquariumZooMontana
38 mi National Recreation AreaBighorn Canyon National Recreation Area228K visitors a year
15 mi MuseumYellowstone Art Museum
15 mi MuseumWestern Heritage CenterZooMontana: Montanabw, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area: National Park Service, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Public domain · Yellowstone Art Museum: Clyde Charles Brown, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Western Heritage Center: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
3 within 15 miles of the center of Laurel
About 2 of every 100 Laurel residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
4 places in Laurel on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Montana, United States
Laurel is a city in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States and the third largest community in the Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area. Laurel is located in the Yellowstone Valley as an east–west terminal division point of the BNSF Railway. The population was 7,222 at the 2020 census. Laurel is home to a Cenex Harvest States oil refinery and BNSF's Laurel Yard, the largest rail yard between St. Paul, Minnesota and Pasco, Washington.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Laurel grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #17 of 41 in Montana. It grades B for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
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 B+.
