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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
No second income to fall back on. Our model scored 1 cities in Montana on solo-living metrics. Billings leads at index 100 with rent of $1,383/mo.
#1 Ranked: Billings — cost index 100, rent $1,383/mo, income $71,855
Singles scoring: rent $1,383/mo (solo housing), cost index 100, population 120,864 — livability on one income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
No second income to fall back on. Our model scored 1 cities in Montana on solo-living metrics. Billings leads at index 100 with rent of $1,383/mo.
Dive into Billings's numbers: cost index 100 (12 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 — Utilities is the cheapest category at 92, while Healthcare runs 103. With 120,864 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
If you're ready to act on this, three things to do next: 1) Click into the city pages for the top 3 and check rent trends — direction matters more than the snapshot. 2) Run your income through the salary calculator for a personalized cost comparison. 3) Compare your top two picks head-to-head on our comparison page. The data is here; the decision is yours.
120,864 residents · Montana
Billings is one of the cheaper options here. Rent is $1,383/month, which is lower than most cities in this ranking. The cost index is 100. Income sits at $71,855. That's about what we'd expect given the state context (that's pre-tax, of course). Surprising? Maybe. But the data's clear.
Billings ranks #1 in Montana for this analysis with a cost index of 100 and median income of $71,855.
Billings scores highest for singles 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 6.75% 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.