PrayMT
A town of 1,129, founded in 1907.
Is Pray a good place to live?
Pray’s best subject grade is a B+ for health; its weakest is a D for cost of living. Pray’s average trip to work is 36 minutes, where Montana’s towns sit at 17 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. On cost of living, just 6 of Montana’s 95 towns do worse. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 83% of U.S. communities, with avalanches at the top. Chico Hot Springs is on the National Register of Historic Places. Pray has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,129 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Pray grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Pray is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Pray: who provides what
Pray is unincorporated, so Park 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 Pray.
A home in Pray is worth about $1.02M, on Zillow’s estimate
79% of households are owner-occupiers in Pray, above both Montana’s towns (64%) and U.S. towns (73%). Typical home values rose 5.4% in the year to September 2026.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
On state tests, Pray’s schools trail 58% of Montana districts
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The public schools here belong to the Arrowhead Elementary District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrowhead ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 46 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Pray faces a very high natural-hazard risk, led by avalanches
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Pray once, in 2022. Only 3 of the 42 Montana towns we compare have a higher risk rating from FEMA than Pray. Nearly two thirds of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from avalanches, followed by inland flooding at 17%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median age in Pray is higher than in the typical Montana or U.S. town
Four-year graduates: 31% of adults 25 and older here, 35% across Montana. A quarter of Pray residents are 65 or older. Adults 18 to 34 are 8% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 47% of residents (37% statewide).
| Pray | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 55.7 years | 38.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 19% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 125 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.4 points). Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women.
| Pray | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.7% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 6% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 26.7% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 21.3% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.9% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.2% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.2% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.9% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.9% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 5.8% | 12% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,100, single groups can be off by several points
Pray stands out in Montana and nationally, with fewer of its working residents who work locally
In Pray, the typical household income is $96,000. Since 2013, Pray has lost 24 jobs, to 174 in 2023. For half of commuters, work is under 22 miles away. The share of residents in Pray who live below the poverty line: 6.9%.
| Pray | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.9% | 39% | 8% |
| Median household income | $96,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.9% | 10% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Residents of Pray are healthier than 72% of U.S. towns
Only one of the 42 Montana towns we compare has a lower share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Pray. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Pray is ahead of Montana on 9 and behind on 2. Just over a quarter of adults feel lonely here.
| Pray | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 31% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Pray | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.1% | 12.3% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.5% | 9.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.5% | 9.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The climate in Pray brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
Summer afternoons peak near 85° in July, and January nights bottom out around 15°; snowfall runs to about 63 inches a winter. Winters in Pray are chilly, snowy and summers warm, with very little rain.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Everything we know about Pray
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Pray; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Pray residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
98% of working residents leave Pray for work
Where Pray’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Pray
Unincorporated community in Montana, United States
Pray is an unincorporated community in Park County, Montana, United States, in the Paradise Valley. The town was founded in 1907 by Valentine Eggar, an entrepreneur. He named it after Congressman Charles Nelson Pray. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Pray as a census-designated place (CDP). The CDP does not correspond to the local understanding of the townsite. As of the 2020 census, Pray had a population of 790. Pray has a post office with ZIP code 59065, which opened on December 8, 1909. The community is located on Highway 540 (East River Road), on the Yellowstone River. It is 22 miles (35 km) from Livingston, and 30 miles (48 km) from Yellowstone Natio…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 29 sq mi
- Elevation
- 5,003 ft
- ZIP code
- 59065
Questions about Pray
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Pray, MT expensive?
Yes. That is 14.5 years of the area's median household income ($70,047 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 D.