Sun PrairieMT
A town of 1,171.
Is Sun Prairie a good place to live?
The best of Sun Prairie’s subject grades is an A− for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for walkability. On the outdoors, just 1 of Montana’s 95 towns do worse. Sun Prairie has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Sun Prairie stand out
Where Sun Prairie beats most towns.
1,171 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Sun Prairie grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Sun Prairie is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Sun Prairie: who provides what
Sun Prairie is unincorporated, so Cascade County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Sun Prairie.
The biggest natural risk in Sun Prairie is cold waves, at a very low overall level
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in Sun Prairie than in 88% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 53% come from cold waves and 32% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Residents of Sun Prairie are less healthy than 76% of U.S. towns
Among adults in Sun Prairie, 17% report frequent physical distress, above both the Montana town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). For adults in the town, the share who report frequent mental distress is 20%. Only 2 of the 42 Montana towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Sun Prairie.
| Sun Prairie | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sun Prairie | MT |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 15.5% | 11.7% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.2% | 7% |
| More smokers | 17.8% | 13.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Compared with most of Montana and the rest of the country, fewer of Sun Prairie’s working residents work locally
For Sun Prairie, the average trip to work is 20 minutes. The income of the median household for Sun Prairie comes to $56,000, below both Montana’s towns ($67,000) and U.S. towns ($80,000). The top destinations are Great Falls (63%), Billings (3%) and Helena (3%). Half of commuters travel less than 11 miles.
| Sun Prairie | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.6% | 39% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The climate in Sun Prairie brings snowy winters and pleasant summers
The range runs from 13° on a January night to 85° on a July afternoon, with about 49 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
More middle-aged adults than Montana overall
Adults 35 to 64 are 42% of residents (37% statewide). For Sun Prairie, the midpoint age is 49 years. 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Montana.
| Sun Prairie | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49 years | 38.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 19% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
Somewhere between 34% and 60% women
The Census survey reached too few of Sun Prairie’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±12.7 points. Across Montana, 49.3% of residents are women.
| Sun Prairie | MT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.6% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6% | 10% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 12.5% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.6% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.3% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.3% | 11.1% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 20.2% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13% | 12.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.6% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.8% | 5.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.7% | 27.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.2% | 22.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.8% | 9.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.4% | 23.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.2% | 12% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,200, single groups can be off by several points
Great Falls and 2 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sun Prairie. Close and well known come first.
17 mi WaterfallGreat Falls
10 mi MuseumC. M. Russell Museum Complex31K visitors a year
10 mi MuseumParis Gibson Square Museum of Art29K visitors a yearPhoto credits
Great Falls: Tim1965, Public domain · C. M. Russell Museum Complex: Roger Wollstadt, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art: Montanabw, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Sun Prairie
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Sun Prairie
About 3 of every 100 Sun Prairie residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
99% of working residents leave Sun Prairie for work
Where Sun Prairie’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Sun Prairie
CDP in Montana, United States
Sun Prairie is a census-designated place (CDP) in Cascade County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Sun Prairie had a population of 1,615. It is part of the Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.4 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,340 ft
Questions about Sun Prairie
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Sun Prairie, MT expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.