Helena, the state capital · Photo: Tracey Elizabeth · CC BY 2.0How Montana stacks up
Montana spends less per pupil than most states (41st) and still scores 14th on the Nation’s Report Card. Town by town, 97% of residents live in one of the country’s shortest-commute towns (the top quarter), with almost none at the other end. On balance it grades C−, which places it 41st.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
47th of 51D8/100 Crime is a real weak spot. At 422 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, Montana sits 12th highest among the states. Few residents live in a top-quarter town; its best showing is Belgrade, #1,955 nationally. Idaho, Wyoming and South Dakota all do better on safety.
Add property crime, weighted as our town grades weigh it, and it ranks 18th highest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 7 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 92% of residents of Montana’s 10,000+ towns.
Where most people live, crime runs higher
At the safe end sit Bozeman (#2,443), Kalispell (#2,558) and Helena (#3,042) in the national ranking of towns of 10,000+. The quarter reporting the most crime per resident takes in Billings, Missoula and Great Falls. Of residents of its 10,000+ towns, 0% live in the safest quarter nationally and 82% in the quarter reporting the most crime.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Montana | 0% | 82% |
A few towns sit out
Town figures come from each police department’s own reports to the FBI, and a town needs enough of the last three years reported to count. That covers 92% of the people in Montana’s towns of 10,000+. Butte-Silver Bow reports no crime of its own, usually a sign that county or state police patrol it. Next door, coverage runs from 88% in Idaho to 100% in Wyoming.
Schools
37th of 51C28/100 Weaker test results than most. It spends $13,570 per pupil (41st) and scores 14th, more than the spending would predict. Measured on the one test every state gives, 34% of its students reach Proficient (14th highest). Even its best town, Bozeman, ranks #1,459 of 5,230 nationally.
In the class of 2023, 85.5% graduated on time, 22nd lowest; graduation counts as much as test results in the grade.
Spending: $13,570 per pupil, 11th lowest. Shown for context, not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 7 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally. Covers 92% of residents of Montana’s 10,000+ towns.
Cost of living
38th of 51C26/100 Living here costs more than in most states. Homes cost 5.2 times the typical household income, and the median tax bill is $2,693 (24th lowest). Top-quarter towns are rare here; Great Falls comes closest at #1,317. The state total looks better than its towns do.
Home values run 5.2 times the median household income, 10th highest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 8 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
25th of 51B−52/100 About average health. Its towns mostly sit mid-table; Bozeman ranks highest, at #1,013. CDC estimates put 18% of adults in fair or poor health, the 22nd lowest share among the states.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 7 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally. Covers 92% of residents of Montana’s 10,000+ towns.
Housing
38th of 51C26/100 High ownership outside its larger towns. Home ownership stands at 69%, the 18th highest rate of the 50 states and D.C. Only 0% of residents live in a town in the national top quarter, led by Butte-Silver Bow. The statewide figure flatters its larger towns; smaller places and the countryside lift it.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 8 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
20th of 51B62/100 Slightly lower risk than average. Natural hazards are expected to cost $137 a year per $100,000 of buildings, the 25th highest rate in the country. Expect inland flooding above all; it makes up 66% of FEMA’s estimate. 44% of residents live in a top-quarter town; Helena ranks highest, at #486.
The federal government declared 13 major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (23rd most).
What drives it: inland flooding 66%, wildfire 17%, earthquake 13% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 8 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
4th of 51A94/100 Short commutes nearly everywhere. At 19.1 minutes, the average commute is the 4th shortest among the states. 97% of residents live in top-quarter towns such as Helena and Kalispell, and almost none at the bottom.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 8 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
17th of 51B+68/100 Growing a bit faster than average. At +9.6% from 2010 to 2020, growth here was the 15th fastest among the states. Nearly every larger town does well here, Bozeman and Belgrade among them.
Building: 7.3 new homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025, 9th most.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 8 Montana towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Montana compares to its neighbors
Each of its neighbors (Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota) does better on safety and cost of living.
| Montana | Idaho | Wyoming | South Dakota | North Dakota | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C− 2041st of 51 | A 906th of 51 | B+ 7414th of 51 | B 5623rd of 51 | A− 8011th of 51 |
| Safety | D 840th official · 0% in top towns | A 8611th official · 22% in top towns | B 645th official · 4% in top towns | C− 2229th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3618th official · 0% in top towns |
| Schools | C 2814th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2013th official · 0% in top towns | C+ 429th official · 4% in top towns | C+ 3617th official · 2% in top towns | C− 1825th official · 0% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C 2624th official · 0% in top towns | B− 5418th official · 10% in top towns | A 9212th official · 52% in top towns | A− 7825th official · 68% in top towns | B+ 7421st official · 45% in top towns |
| Health | B− 5222nd official · 15% in top towns | A− 7815th official · 36% in top towns | C 3422nd official · 4% in top towns | B− 4813th official · 4% in top towns | A 927th official · 56% in top towns |
| Housing | C 2618th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 688th official · 8% in top towns | C+ 3810th official · 0% in top towns | C 2819th official · 2% in top towns | D− 245th official · 0% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | B 6227th official · 44% in top towns | B+ 6829th official · 48% in top towns | B 6026th official · 23% in top towns | C+ 4221st official · 0% in top towns | B+ 7414th official · 22% in top towns |
| Commute | A 944th official · 97% in top towns | A− 829th official · 53% in top towns | A 923rd official · 88% in top towns | A+ 981st official · 98% in top towns | A+ 1002nd official · 100% in top towns |
| Growth | B+ 6815th official · 32% in top towns | A+ 1002nd official · 83% in top towns | D 1245th official · 12% in top towns | A− 7617th official · 53% in top towns | A+ 984th official · 83% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work