Best Places59069, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 59069, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
59069 ranks 18,241st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in 59069
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
59069's strengths and weaknesses
Where 59069 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 120 pleasant days a year, better than 75% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 73% of zip codes
Where 59069 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 59069
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 59069 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,603, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 59069's effective rate of 0.49%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 59069
59069 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 59069.
Who works in 59069, and how
Work in 59069 centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 59069
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 59069.
What the weather is like in 59069, month by month
59069 sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 29° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 49° |
| October | 62° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of 59069
The nearest airport, Billings Logan International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 360 miles away.
The best schools in and around 59069
Schools across 59069 average a B−, better than 51% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Reed Point ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Melville SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Columbus Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tongue River Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Big Timber 7-8B− · 43% proficient
- Columbus Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbus High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Sweet Grass Co High SchlD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 59069 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
59069 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 59069 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 59069
Is 59069 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 59069 ranks 18,241st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, low property taxes, and clean air, and lowest on internet speeds and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 59069 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $434,004. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $83,603 median income, cost of living beats 62% of zip codes.
Is 59069 safe?
59069 is safer than 39% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $487 per resident a year.
Compare 59069 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 59069. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 59069 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
59069 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 59069: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 59069: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 59069: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 59069: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
59069 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.