Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,217, settled in 1888.
Sidney is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, ranked 11th of 41 in Montana, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools outperform 65% of the state's. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 64% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: it reports more crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, including 39 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. A typical home there costs about $280K, 3.8 years of the county’s $73K median household income. 50% of working residents work locally in Sidney, above both the Montana town median (37%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Sidney is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. Among 42 Montana towns, just 2 have a lower January low than Sidney.
Where Sidney beats most towns.
5,191 counted in 2010 and 6,346 in 2020; an estimated 6,217 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Sidney is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 75 in 1900, 6,346 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1925 and 2 maps from 1966 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sidney, 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 Sidney.
Sidney is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has home values still below their peak and has a shorter frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Montana.
The typical value, about $280K, is 17% below its December 2021 peak. At about $280K, home values are down 12% in five years, against a rise of 23% across Montana.
A typical home in Sidney is worth about $280,000, up 5.5% in a year, 40% below the Montana typical home. The rent at the middle of the market locally is $931 a month. Sidney: 58% of households are owner-occupiers.
| Sidney | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $931 a month | $1,004 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Two of the 5 schools are below, and why each made the list. The largest public high school is Sidney High School, with 355 students. The public schools here belong to the Sidney Elementary District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 319 | C+ |
| Sidney High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 355 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
Sidney’s rate of thefts and burglaries stands at 7.4 per 1,000 residents. Within Montana, it does better than 64% of towns.
| Sidney | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.6 per 1,000 residents | 4.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.4 per 1,000 residents | 15.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Sidney weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 137 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 87% of Montana places with climate records.
Summer afternoons peak near 85° in July, and January nights bottom out around 4°; snowfall runs to about 30 inches a winter. Summers in Sidney are warm, and winters cold, snowy, with very little rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,524 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sidney’s, it is healthier than 87%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
Against the Montana average, Sidney comes out ahead on 4 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. The share of adults in Sidney who had a checkup this year: 69%. Only 3 of the 41 Montana towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have obesity than Sidney.
| Sidney | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 20% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 72% | 79% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.6% | 10% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | Sidney | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3% | 3.5% |
| More adults with obesity | 38% | 31.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here fell from 4,171 in 2013 to 3,248.
7.7% of residents live below the poverty line in Sidney. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Sidney dropped by 923, to 3,248. In Sidney, the average commute is 21 minutes. The top destinations are Williston (4%), Billings (3%) and Fairview (2%).
| Sidney | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.7% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $68,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Sidney’s density of trails comes in at 0.2 miles per square mile. Walkers can cover 0.8 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves.
| Sidney | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.9% | 9.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Meadow Park | — | 11 |
| 2. Moose Park | — | 6 |
| 3. Central Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA puts 76% of Sidney’s expected hazard losses down to cold waves, and 15% to inland flooding. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 51% of U.S. communities. Flood insurance has paid one claim in the town since 1997.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Sidney; the nearest are
About 7 of every 100 Sidney residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
7 notable people were born in Sidney.
City in Montana, United States
Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Montana, United States, less than 10 mi (16 km) west of the North Dakota border. The population was 6,346 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 6,031 in 2024. The city lies along the Yellowstone River. Sidney is approximately midway between Glendive, Montana and Williston, North Dakota.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sidney grades B− overall, better than 51% of U.S. towns and #11 of 41 in Montana. It grades B for health, C for safety and B+ for schools.
Within Montana, it does better than 64% of towns.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
7 notable people were born here, including Chuck Stevenson and Leila Ben Youssef.
