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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Families relocating within Montana face a complex equation: income, housing costs, healthcare, and quality schools. We ran the numbers on 1 cities. Billings — index 81, rent $1,383/mo, healthcare index 96 — ranks #1 on our family-weighted model (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
120,864 residents · Montana
Why Billings ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 81 on the cost index, residents save roughly 30% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,383/month while the median household pulls in $71,855/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 81, though Healthcare (96) lags behind. Home prices average $390,654 — $76,716 below the national median.
#1 Ranked: Billings — cost index 81, rent $1,383/mo, income $71,855
Family-weighted scoring: income $71,855, healthcare index 96, population 120,864 — balancing career, care, and schools
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Families relocating within Montana face a complex equation: income, housing costs, healthcare, and quality schools. We ran the numbers on 1 cities. Billings — index 81, rent $1,383/mo, healthcare index 96 — ranks #1 on our family-weighted model (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
Dive into Billings's numbers: cost index 81 (30 points below national average), rent $1,383/month, income $71,855, and a home price of $390,654. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 81, while Healthcare runs 96. With 120,864 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
(Tangentially — this is the kind of city where you can actually build equity on a median salary, which is increasingly rare.)
Flip the lens, and you get a different read: The 1 cities we track in Montana paint a clearly affordable picture. Average cost index: 81. Median rent: $1,383/month. Household income: $71,855. Montana is known for Big Sky country with an inflating housing bubble — and the data backs that reputation convincingly.
Bottom line: Billings leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. Click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers.
Billings ranks #1 in Montana for this analysis with a cost index of 81 and median income of $71,855.
Billings scores highest for families due to its below-average cost of living, 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.