Best PlacesBlaine County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Blaine County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Blaine County ranks 1,959th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Blaine 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.
Blaine County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blaine County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 136 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of counties
Where Blaine County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Blaine County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blaine County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,488, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Blaine County's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blaine County
Blaine County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blaine County.
Who works in Blaine County, and how
Work in Blaine County centers on public administration and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Blaine County
Blaine County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Blaine County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Blaine County growing, and who is moving in?
Blaine County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Beaverhead County, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Blaine County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Blaine County, month by month
Blaine County sees roughly 136 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 20° | 8° |
| April | 59° | 43° | 28° |
| July | 91° | 72° | 53° |
| October | 60° | 43° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Blaine County
The nearest airport, Havre City-County, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 487 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blaine County
Schools across Blaine County average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Zurich SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Turner SchoolB · 50% proficient
- North Harlem ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Turner 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
- Chinook 7-8D · 21% proficient
- Harlem 7-8F · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Hays-lodge Pole High SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Chinook High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
- Harlem High SchoolF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blaine County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blaine 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 Blaine County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Blaine County
Is Blaine County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blaine County ranks 1,959th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blaine County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,537. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $61,488 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Blaine County safe?
Blaine County is safer than 12% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $748 per resident a year.
Compare Blaine County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blaine County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blaine 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.
Blaine County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blaine County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blaine County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blaine County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blaine County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blaine 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.