Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,272, settled in 1883.
Townsend’s best subject grades are an A− for walkability and cost of living and an A for civic life; its weakest is a D for incomes. Townsend’s average trip to work is 31 minutes, where Montana’s towns sit at 17 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. 13% of the land in Townsend is conserved, where Montana’s towns sit at 9.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Townsend has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them State Bank of Townsend and McCormick's Livery and Feed Stable Sign. Townsend has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Townsend beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Montana), ordered by how far Townsend is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 245 in 1890, 1,787 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1952 and 3 maps from 1950 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Townsend, 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 Townsend.
In Townsend, the FEMA hazard score is 78 of 100. 2 flood insurance claims have been paid in the town since 1978. Expected losses in Townsend break down as 39% from earthquakes and 32% from inland flooding. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2011.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Townsend K-12 Schools runs its public schools. Below: Two of its 3 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cecelia Hazelton SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 423 | B |
| Broadwater High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 196 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MT on state tests and graduation
The range runs from 13° on a January night to 85° on a July afternoon, with about 24 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.9 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Townsend: 4, covering 11 acres. The trail density for Townsend comes to 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. McCarthy Park | — | 6 |
| 2. Heritage Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Holloway Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For residents in Townsend, the share who live below the poverty line is 16%. Roughly one working resident in four has a job in Townsend itself. Employers in Townsend added 40 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 622. The top destinations are Helena (16%), Bozeman (7%) and Wheatland (4%).
| Townsend | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 39% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $67,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Townsend, 38% of adults have high blood pressure, and 30% sleep under 7 hours. Of 32 CDC measures, Townsend beats the Montana average on 2 and trails it on 10. 18% of adults binge drink in the town.
| Townsend | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 32% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Townsend | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.1% | 12.3% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 76.8% | 73.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The share of households in Townsend who are owner-occupiers: 73%. Its rent at the middle of the market is $952 a month.
| Townsend | Montana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 73% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $952 a month | $1,000 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Townsend; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Townsend residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Montana.
City in Montana, United States
Townsend is a city in and the county seat of Broadwater County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,787 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.
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−.
2 notable people were born here, including Patrick Duffy and Kelly Flynn.