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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Young professionals don't just need cheap — they need opportunity. And most of the time, we scored 1 cities across Montana on income, market size, and transport costs. Billings ($71,855 median income, 120,864 people) ranks #1 for 2026.
Young professionals don't just need cheap — they need opportunity. And most of the time, we scored 1 cities across Montana on income, market size, and transport costs. Billings ($71,855 median income, 120,864 people) ranks #1 for 2026.
For young professionals, we weight income potential highest (20pts) — early career earnings compound over decades. Population comes next (15pts) as a proxy for job market depth: more employers means more opportunity. Transport costs (10pts) matter because most early-career workers are car-dependent. Billings leads with $71,855 median income and 120,864 residents.
The numbers for Billings are straightforward: 100 on the cost index, $1,383/month rent, $71,855 income. Not the most exciting entry in the list, but solid. It's fine. Not great, not bad.
If you only look at rent, it's perfect. Zoom out and it's complicated. In Billings, the healthcare index sits at 103 — not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing about.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
#1 Ranked: Billings — cost index 100, rent $1,383/mo, income $71,855
Young-professional scoring: income $71,855, population 120,864 (job market depth), transport index 95
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
120,864 residents · Montana
A closer look at Billings: the cost index of 100 breaks down to a Utilities index of 92 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 103 (weakest). Median rent is $1,383/month — 27% below the national median — while household income sits at $71,855, meaning locals spend about 23% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to young professionals. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Billings ranks #1 in Montana for this analysis with a cost index of 100 and median income of $71,855.
Billings scores highest for young professionals due to its strong income potential, median rent of $1,383/mo, and competitive median income of $71,855.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Billings is $1,383/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $512 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Billings is $390,654, which is 5.4× the local median income. Most median-income households would stretch to buy at this ratio. The national median home price is $467,370.
Montana has a 5.9% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 0%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.74%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.