Best Places59873, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 59873, 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.
59873 ranks 21,012th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 59873
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.
59873's strengths and weaknesses
Where 59873 ranks high
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 93% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 59873 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 21% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 26% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 59873
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 59873 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $62,476, 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 59873's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 59873
59873 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 59873.
Who works in 59873, and how
Work in 59873 centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 59873
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 59873.
What the weather is like in 59873, month by month
59873 sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 23° | 18° |
| April | 43° | 33° | 26° |
| July | 74° | 62° | 53° |
| October | 47° | 38° | 31° |
Flying in and out of 59873
The nearest airport, Glacier Park International, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 283 miles away.
The best schools in and around 59873
Schools across 59873 average a C, better than 38% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Thompson Falls Elem SchlB− · 40% proficient
- Trout Creek SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thompson Falls 7-8C · 35% proficient
- Trout Creek 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Thompson Falls High SchlC− · 30% proficient
- Noxon High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Plains High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 59873 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
59873 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 59873 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 59873
Is 59873 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 59873 ranks 21,012th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, a strong job market, and low taxes, and lowest on an overheated housing market 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 59873 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $304,636. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $62,476 median income, cost of living beats 21% of zip codes.
Is 59873 safe?
59873 is safer than 27% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $567 per resident a year.
Compare 59873 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 59873. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 59873 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.
59873 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 59873: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 59873: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 59873: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 59873: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
59873 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.