Best PlacesCanyon Creek, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Canyon Creek, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Canyon Creek ranks 6,514th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Canyon Creek
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.
Canyon Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Canyon Creek ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
Where Canyon Creek ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,023 a month, better than only 24% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 24% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Canyon Creek
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Canyon Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,859, 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 Canyon Creek's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Canyon Creek
Canyon Creek 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 Canyon Creek.
Who works in Canyon Creek, and how
Work in Canyon Creek centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Canyon Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Canyon Creek.
What the weather is like in Canyon Creek, month by month
Canyon Creek sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 55° |
| October | 61° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Canyon Creek
The nearest airport, Helena Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 298 miles away.
The best schools in and around Canyon Creek
Schools across Canyon Creek average a B+, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Trinity SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Elk City SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Lincoln Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Augusta 7-8B+ · 50% proficient
- C R Anderson Middle SchlB · 46% proficient
- Lincoln 7-8B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Capital High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Lincoln High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Canyon Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Canyon Creek 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 Canyon Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Canyon Creek
Is Canyon Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Canyon Creek ranks 6,514th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, the weather, and heat safety, and lowest on distance from a big city and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Canyon Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $371,593. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $101,859 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Canyon Creek safe?
Yes, Canyon Creek is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $303 per resident a year.
Compare Canyon Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Canyon Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Canyon Creek 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.
Canyon Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Canyon Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Canyon Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Canyon Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Canyon Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Canyon Creek 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.