A wise sage once said:
“She works hard for the money…”
And these places in Montana definitely treat her right.
You see, these are the cities and places in Montana where the cost of living is the lowest; where your salary goes the furthest. And when if you have the luxury of choosing where to live in the Treasure State, then the cost of living should play a role in the decision.
So we did the hard for you and crunched the numbers to find the cities that have lower food, energy, and housing costs. After the dust settled on our analysis of the 50 largest places in Montana, we were left with this set of the best value for your money.
So where is the cheapest place to live in Montana? That would be Chinook.
So listen up Bozeman (the most expensive place in Montana) as we explain how we created this ranking. You could learn some things from the rest of the state.
And if you already knew these places were cheap, check out some more reading about Montana and the cheapest places in the country:
The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Montana For 2019
/10
Population: 1,056
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.7x (6th most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 75.1x (7th cheapest)
More On Chinook: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Chinook comes in at $38,824 and the median home value is $102,900 for 2019.
/10
Population: 1,268
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.2x (2nd most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 84.3x (4th cheapest)
More On Scobey: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Scobey comes in at $53,594 and the median home value is $119,200 for 2019.
/10
Population: 2,792
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.5x (4th most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 72.0x (11th cheapest)
More On Wolf Point: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Wolf Point comes in at $43,512 and the median home value is $107,100 for 2019.
/10
Population: 2,253
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 1.6x (1st most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 108.2x (2nd cheapest)
More On Colstrip: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Colstrip comes in at $88,542 and the median home value is $137,500 for 2019.
/10
Population: 3,361
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.3x (3rd most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 124.0x (1st cheapest)
More On Glasgow: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Glasgow comes in at $61,484 and the median home value is $140,800 for 2019.
/10
Population: 2,000
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.9x (11th most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 94.6x (3rd cheapest)
More On Townsend: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Townsend comes in at $49,012 and the median home value is $141,200 for 2019.
/10
Population: 3,015
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.0x (12th most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 67.3x (21st cheapest)
More On Deer Lodge: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Deer Lodge comes in at $37,985 and the median home value is $113,000 for 2019.
Wonderful pictures! Yep this is my home and my roots! From Deer Lodge! Thank you for sharing!
/10
Population: 1,860
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 2)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.8x (9th most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 79.5x (6th cheapest)
More On Baker: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Baker comes in at $51,573 and the median home value is $144,800 for 2019.
/10
Population: 2,841
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 5)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.7x (7th most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 60.8x (30th cheapest)
More On Conrad: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Conrad comes in at $43,372 and the median home value is $118,000 for 2019.
/10
Population: 3,812
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 6)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.6x (5th most affordable)
Income To Rent Ratio: 57.8x (36th cheapest)
More On Hardin: Homes For Sale | Data | Photos
The median income in Hardin comes in at $43,641 and the median home value is $111,800 for 2019.
How We Determined The Most Affordable Places To Live In The Treasure State For 2019
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:
- How much do money do I make?
- How much do I have spend to live there?
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it’s actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2013-2017 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Montana to figure out which is the least expensive.
What you are left with is a “Cost of Living Index” by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 50 places in Montana that have more than 1,000 people.
The place with the lowest cost of living in Montana according to the data is Chinook.
There You Have It Mr. Or Mrs. Montana Cheapskate
If you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in Montana, this is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in montana for 2019.
Here’s a look at the most expensive cities in Montana according to the data:
- Bozeman
- Whitefish
- West Yellowstone
For more Montana reading, check out:
- Best Places To Buy A House In Montana
- 10 Safest Places In Montana
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Montana
What Are The Most Affordable Places To Live In Montana?
| Rank | City | CheapScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinook | 5.0 |
| 2 | Scobey | 5.33 |
| 3 | Wolf Point | 6.33 |
| 4 | Colstrip | 7.33 |
| 5 | Glasgow | 8.33 |
| 6 | Townsend | 12.0 |
| 7 | Deer Lodge | 13.0 |
| 8 | Baker | 13.33 |
| 9 | Conrad | 15.33 |
| 10 | Hardin | 15.33 |
