Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Shelby is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, ranked 34th of 41 in Montana, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its public schools beat 56% of Montana towns on state tests and graduation. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $178K, 3.1 years of the county’s $58K median household income. 33% of the land in Shelby is conserved, where Montana’s towns sit at 9.1% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On hazard risk, just 6 of Montana’s 95 towns do better. Shelby's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Where Shelby beats most towns.
Rainbow Conoco32.8% of the town is conserved land, across 5 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Shelby is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 537 in 1920, 3,169 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and a map from 1986 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Shelby, 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 Shelby.
Shelby carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Montana (mostly cold waves), has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and keeps more of its land conserved than most of Montana.
Its 1,241 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of Montana towns.
15 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. At 2.6 miles per square mile, Shelby’s trail density is against 0.6 in Montana’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Shel-oole Baseball Complex | — | 10 |
| 2. Aronow Park | 0.1 mi | 6 |
| 3. Johnson Memorial Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Shelby Elementary District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 262 | B |
| Shelby High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 143 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Home values rose 44% in five years, to about $178K, against 23% across Montana.
The typical Shelby home is worth about $178,000, up 2.2% in a year, 62% below the Montana typical home. The median rent in Shelby is $893 a month.
| Shelby | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $893 a month | $1,004 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 100% of Montana towns, with expected losses of about $82 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Shelby’s FEMA risk score is 0 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 8,496 U.S. towns with household incomes like Shelby’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Shelby beats the Montana average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 67% of adults had a checkup this year in Shelby. Only 2 of the 41 Montana towns we compare have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Shelby.
| Shelby | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 72% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 20% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 9.4% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Shelby | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 8% | 9.3% |
| More smokers | 20.2% | 13.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Shelby weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 115 days, shorter than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Shelby has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 9° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 1,327 in 2013 to 1,057.
41% of Shelby’s working residents work right in town. Since 2013, Shelby has lost 270 jobs, to 1,057 in 2023. 14% of Shelby residents live below the poverty line.
| Shelby | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 41% | 37% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $68,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Shelby; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Shelby residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
City in Montana, United States
Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Toole County, Montana, United States. The population was 3,169 at the 2020 census. Shelby is roughly 85 miles (137 km) north of Great Falls, 172 miles (277 km) north of Helena and 35 miles (56 km) south of the Canada-U.S Border.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Shelby grades C− overall, better than 22% of U.S. towns and #34 of 41 in Montana. It grades C for health and B for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
2 notable people were born here, including Jack Horner and James Grady.