Best PlacesBeaverhead County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Beaverhead County, 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.
Beaverhead County ranks 636th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Beaverhead County
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.
Beaverhead County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Beaverhead County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 92% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of counties
Where Beaverhead County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,003 a month, better than only 17% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Beaverhead County
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Beaverhead County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,834, 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 Beaverhead County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Beaverhead County
Beaverhead County 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 Beaverhead County.
Who works in Beaverhead County, and how
Work in Beaverhead County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Beaverhead County
Beaverhead County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties and more parkland per resident than 67% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Beaverhead County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Beaverhead County growing, and who is moving in?
Beaverhead County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bozeman, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Beaverhead County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Beaverhead County, month by month
Beaverhead County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 22° | 11° |
| April | 56° | 40° | 26° |
| July | 86° | 67° | 47° |
| October | 59° | 42° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Beaverhead County
The nearest airport, Bert Mooney, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 209 miles away.
The best schools in and around Beaverhead County
Schools across Beaverhead County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Elk City SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Reichle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Ashton Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dillon Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- South Fremont Jr HighC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Beaverhead Co High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Salmon Jr/sr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- North Fremont Jr/sr High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Beaverhead County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Beaverhead County 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 Beaverhead County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Beaverhead County
Is Beaverhead County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Beaverhead County ranks 636th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and a strong job market, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Beaverhead County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $325,592. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $63,834 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Beaverhead County safe?
Yes, Beaverhead County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $423 per resident a year.
Compare Beaverhead County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Beaverhead County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Beaverhead County 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.
Beaverhead County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Beaverhead County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Beaverhead County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Beaverhead County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Beaverhead County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Beaverhead County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.