Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The median household income is $49K, and 21% of residents live below the poverty line. Overall it grades C, ranked 28th of 41 in Montana. It is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns and natural-hazard risk is low. Its weakest subject is safety: its police reported 40 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 78% of U.S. towns. 52% of working residents work locally in Lewistown, against 37% in Montana’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include St. Joseph's Hospital and US Post Office and Federal Building-Lewistown. Only 2 of the 42 Montana towns we compare have a lower median household income than Lewistown.
Where Lewistown beats most towns.
St. Joseph's Hospital
Census counts: 72 in 1880, 5,952 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 2 maps from 1941 on.
37 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Lewistown is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 92% of comparable towns) to D− for jobs and income (better than 5%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lewistown, 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 Lewistown.
Lewistown has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the Montana rate.
5.1 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. Lewistown’s trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Lewistown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.5% | 9.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fred Robinson Park | 0.3 mi | 9 |
| 2. Symmes Park | — | 15 |
| 3. Frank Day Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Lewistown Elementary District. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Fergus High School, with 347 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis & Clark SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 276 | A− |
| Fergus High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 347 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Home values rose 45% in five years, to about $285K, against 23% across Montana.
The typical Lewistown home is worth about $285,000, up 5.4% in a year, 39% below the Montana typical home. 56% of Lewistown households own their home.
| Lewistown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,007 a month | $994 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The violent crime rate in Lewistown is 6.4 per 1,000 residents. Lewistown reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 78% report less. Within Montana, it does better than 52% of towns.
| Lewistown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.4 per 1,000 residents | 4.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.5 per 1,000 residents | 15.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lewistown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Lewistown 11 Sse weather station, 10 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 105 days, shorter than in 97% of U.S. towns. The Lewistown 11 Sse weather station, 10 miles away, records that 112 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Lewistown has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 82° and January nights drop to 12°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 2,664 working residents takes 12.7 minutes, against 19.1 across Montana.
Since 2013, Lewistown has added 244 jobs, to 2,739 in 2023. The top destinations are Billings (8%), Bozeman (2%) and Roy (1%).
| Lewistown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 13 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 7.2% | 8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 5,290 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lewistown’s, it is healthier than 85%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Lewistown beats the Montana average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Lewistown. Among 41 Montana towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Lewistown.
| Lewistown | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Lewistown | MT |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 76.6% | 73.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Lewistown; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Lewistown residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Montana.
37 places in Lewistown on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Lewistown.
City in Montana, United States
Lewistown is a city in and the county seat of Fergus County, Montana, United States. The population was 5,952 at the 2020 census. Lewistown is located in the geographic center of the state, southeast of Great Falls and northwest of Billings. First planned in 1882, it was the site of an 1880s gold rush, and served as an important railway destination, supplying surrounding communities with bricks via rail.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Lewistown.
| Town | MT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewistown | #28 | C | C+ | C− | B+ | B− |
| Lewistown Heights | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Lewistown Heights isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lewistown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lewistown grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #28 of 41 in Montana. It grades B− for health, C− for safety and B+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within Montana, it does better than 52% of towns.
That is 4.5 years of the area's median household income ($63,706 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+.
12 notable people were born here, including Loren Acton and Roy E. Ayers.
