QoL Rank
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Montana

Montana has a quality of life score of 51/100 (C, average) and ranks #23 of 51 states. Its strongest category is quality of life (60) and its weakest is safety (36). Its top-rated larger counties are Gallatin County, Jefferson County, Lewis and Clark County.

  • Safety: 36
  • Cost of living: 55
  • Education: 54
  • Quality of life: 60

Key figures: violent crime 424.5 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $1,081 a month; median home value $375,800; median household income $70,939; life expectancy 76.9 years.

Counties in Montana, best first

  1. Daniels County 77
  2. McCone County 77
  3. Judith Basin County 70
  4. Fallon County 70
  5. Valley County 65
  6. Chouteau County 65
  7. Sheridan County 63
  8. Gallatin County 63
  9. Jefferson County 61
  10. Teton County 61
  11. Beaverhead County 61
  12. Madison County 60
  13. Phillips County 58
  14. Lewis and Clark County 57
  15. Dawson County 57
  16. Richland County 57
  17. Toole County 55
  18. Custer County 55
  19. Missoula County 54
  20. Fergus County 54
  21. Powell County 54
  22. Granite County 53
  23. Blaine County 53
  24. Meagher County 52
  25. Cascade County 52
  26. Carbon County 50
  27. Flathead County 50
  28. Stillwater County 50
  29. Yellowstone County 50
  30. Sweet Grass County 49
  31. Musselshell County 49
  32. Ravalli County 48
  33. Powder River County 48
  34. Broadwater County 48
  35. Pondera County 48
  36. Silver Bow County 48
  37. Wheatland County 48
  38. Park County 43
  39. Deer Lodge County 43
  40. Hill County 43
  41. Lincoln County 42
  42. Mineral County 40
  43. Rosebud County 39
  44. Roosevelt County 37
  45. Big Horn County 37
  46. Sanders County 35
  47. Glacier County 33
  48. Lake County 32
  49. Carter County –
  50. Garfield County –
  51. Golden Valley County –
  52. Liberty County –
  53. Petroleum County –
  54. Prairie County –
  55. Treasure County –
  56. Wibaux County –

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources