Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,209, settled in 1894. A regional job hub with 1,465 jobs.
Ronan’s best subject grade is an A− for walkability; its weakest is a D− for incomes. On incomes, just 9 of Montana’s 94 towns do worse. Ronan reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, including 14 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Only 2 of the 43 Montana towns we compare have a lower median household income than Ronan. Don E. Olsson House and Garage is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ronan has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Ronan beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Ronan’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Ronan is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 600 in 1920, 1,955 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 2009 and 2 maps from 1964 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ronan, 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 Ronan.
About one in 4 of Ronan’s working residents works in town. 22% of residents live below the poverty line in Ronan, where Montana’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. The average trip to work in Ronan is 15 minutes.
| Ronan | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 39% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Ronan Elementary District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Ronan High School, with 376 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronan Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 432 | C− |
| Ronan High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 376 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Ronan’s violent crime rate is 6.3 per 1,000 residents, against 4.3 in Montana’s towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns. Ronan’s property crime rate is 18.8 per 1,000 residents. Ronan reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 92% report less.
| Ronan | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.3 per 1,000 residents | 4.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.8 per 1,000 residents | 14.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Ronan beats the Montana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 18% of Ronan adults report frequent physical distress. Among 42 Montana towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Ronan.
| Ronan | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 19% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Ronan | MT |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.1% | 12.3% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 20.6% | 11.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.3% | 6.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Ronan has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 20° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Ronan home is worth about $428,000, up 2.1% in a year, 8% below the Montana typical home. 60% of households own their home in Ronan.
| Ronan | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $880 a month | $1,000 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.6 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Ronan | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.7% | 9.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ronan Park | 0.1 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ronan
About 2 of every 100 Ronan residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
City in Montana, United States
Ronan (Salish: ocqʔetkʷ) is a city in Lake County, Montana, United States. It is on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The population was 1,955 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 6.8 years of the area's median household income ($63,360 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+.