Saint Mary Ranger Station · National Register of Historic Places
St. Mary’s story
128 years in pictures
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
- 1898St. Mary is settled
St. MaryMT
The town, settled in 1898, counts 193 residents.
Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0
Is St. Mary a good place to live?
62% of residents live below the poverty line in St. Mary, above both the Montana town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Among 43 Montana towns, just one has a lower typical July afternoon high than St. Mary. 34% of the land in St. Mary is conserved, where Montana’s towns sit at 9.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. St. Mary has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Great Northern Railway Buildings and Going-to-the-Sun Road. St. Mary has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
Small town
193 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Nearby attractions
All 8 attractions →Saint Mary Lake and 6 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around St. Mary. Close and well known come first.
7 mi LakeSaint Mary Lake
12 mi MountainTriple Divide Peakin town National ParkGlacier National Park3.1M visitors a year
28 mi Park & preserveWaterton-Glacier International Peace Park
14 mi MuseumLogan Pass Visitor Center
in town MuseumSaint Mary Visitor Center, Entrance Station and Checking StationsSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Saint Mary Lake: Ken Thomas (talk · contribs), Public domain · Triple Divide Peak: Eggbones, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park: Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the Univers, Public domain · Logan Pass Visitor Center: Royalbroil, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Saint Mary Visitor Center, Entrance Station and Checking Stations: National Park Service inventory, Public domain
Getting set up
Moving to St. Mary: who provides what
St. Mary is unincorporated, so Glacier County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerNorthWestern Energy14.4¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterSt Mary Headquarters and Cg water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet2 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesGlacier CountyGlacier County provides services here
SchoolsBrowning Elementary School DistrictBrowning High School District2 districts serve St. Mary; which school depends on your address and gradeNCES
Register to voteIn personMontana has no online registration; you can register in person up to and including Election Day or by mail (postmarked 30 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereGlacier County Election AdministratorGlacier County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jun 2024
ZIP code5941759417 100%Census 2020
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 St. Mary.
Who lives here
A college town: 33% of residents are 18 to 24
The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 38%, against 35% across Montana. Adults 18 to 34 are 54% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 7% of residents (20% statewide).
25.8median age · MT 40.4
St. MaryMontanaUnited States
Ages · share of residents
33%
Education · adults 25 and older
No diploma0%
High school16%
Some college12%
Associate’s35%
Bachelor’s18%
Graduate20%
Women and men · all residents
Somewhere between 10% and 78% women
The Census survey reached too few of St. Mary’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±33.9 points. Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women.
| St. Mary | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 0% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 32.6% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 21.2% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 21.8% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 6.7% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 0% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.3% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 0% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 0% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 15.5% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 11.8% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 34.5% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.2% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20% | 12% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 200, single groups can be off by several points
Outdoors
In St. Mary, nearly a third of the land is conserved
The biggest park or preserve is Glacier National Park, at 156 acres. 1.5 miles of trail wind through 1 park or preserve. St. Mary’s trail density comes in at 2.1 miles per square mile.
33.6%conserved
33.6%
conserved · 161 of 478 acres
1.5 mi
of trails · 2.1 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Glacier National Park | 0.6 mi | 156 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Climate
The climate in St. Mary brings four seasons and pleasant summers
July afternoons reach 75° and January nights drop to 13°.
75°summer high
Typical low → high °F
Winter14–32°
Spring27–49°
Summer43–72°
Fall30–51°
Sep 5
typical first frost
Jun 12
typical last frost
+1.9°
vs. the 20th-century average
75°
typical summer high
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Health
A larger share of adults in St. Mary report frequent mental distress than in the typical Montana or U.S. town
18% of St. Mary adults binge drink. Among 42 Montana towns, just 2 have a higher share of adults who feel lonely than St. Mary. Two figures for adults locally: 31% smoke cigarettes, 18% have diabetes. Against the Montana average, St. Mary comes out ahead on 1 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 27.
| St. Mary | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 19% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 10% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 18% | 17% |
32 measures vs. Montana
1 better4 too close to call27 worse
| What stands out | St. Mary | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.1% | 9.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 22.5% | 6.5% |
P H S Indian Hospital at Browning - Blackfeet
13.3 mi away · emergency room
3 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Natural hazards
Natural hazards: moderate risk in St. Mary, mostly cold waves
FEMA puts just over two fifths of St. Mary’s expected hazard losses down to cold waves, and 35% to inland flooding. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in nearly three fifths of U.S. communities.
59risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Cold wavesInland floodingAvalanches
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Keep exploring
Everything we know about St. Mary
14pages on St. Mary
The big questions
Out and about
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of St. Mary; the nearest are
Blackfeet Community CollegeUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Browning23.2 mi$3,610 tuitionFlathead Valley Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Kalispell54.5 mi$4,912 in-state tuitionSalish Kootenai CollegeUniversity or college · Public · Pablo85.1 mi$4,311 in-state tuition
About 0 of every 100 St. Mary residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
Landmarks
2 places in St. Mary on the National Register of Historic Places.
About St. Mary
Census-Designated Place in Montana, United States
St. Mary or Saint Mary (Blackfeet: Natoaki, "Holy Woman") is an unincorporated community on the western border of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation adjacent to Glacier National Park in Glacier County, Montana, United States. The village is the eastern terminus of the Going-to-the-Sun Road which bisects the park east to west, a distance of 53 mi (85 km). As of the 2020 census, St. Mary had a population of 54. The population increases tenfold on a busy summer evening. Several lodges, restaurants and cafés, a small grocery store, two gas stations and campgrounds are located in the village. A large housing area for National Park Service personnel is located adjacent to the village, but within th…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Questions about St. Mary
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is St. Mary, MT a good place to live?
St. Mary has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.