Best PlacesClinton, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clinton, 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.
Clinton ranks 20,998th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Clinton
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.
Clinton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clinton ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 118 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of towns
Where Clinton ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,035 a month, better than only 23% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clinton
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clinton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,539, 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 Clinton's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clinton
Clinton's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clinton.
Who works in Clinton, and how
Work in Clinton centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Clinton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clinton.
What the weather is like in Clinton, month by month
Clinton sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 31° |
| July | 91° | 71° | 51° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Clinton
The nearest airport, Missoula Montana, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 253 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clinton
Schools across Clinton average a C+, better than 53% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Drummond SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Potomac SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Clinton SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Potomac 7-8B+ · 50% proficient
- Clinton 7-8B− · 40% proficient
- Philipsburg 7-8C− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Hellgate High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Drummond High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Granite High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clinton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clinton 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 Clinton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clinton
Is Clinton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clinton ranks 20,998th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, population health, and low taxes, 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 Clinton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $425,513. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $82,539 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Clinton safe?
Yes, Clinton is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $351 per resident a year.
Compare Clinton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clinton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clinton 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.
Clinton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clinton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clinton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clinton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clinton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clinton 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.