Best PlacesCuster County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Custer County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Custer County ranks 397th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Custer 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.
Custer County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Custer County ranks high
- Short commute13.0 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of counties
Where Custer County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,125 a month, better than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Custer County
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Custer County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,246, 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 Custer County's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 Custer County
Custer 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 Custer County.
Who works in Custer County, and how
Work in Custer County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Custer County
Custer County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of counties and more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Custer County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Custer County growing, and who is moving in?
Custer County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Billings, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Custer County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Custer County, month by month
Custer County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 21° | 11° |
| April | 61° | 45° | 31° |
| July | 93° | 76° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Custer County
The nearest airport, L M Clayton, is about 118 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 456 miles away.
The best schools in and around Custer County
Schools across Custer County average a B, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Tongue River ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Kircher SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tongue River Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Washington Middle School 6-8C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Tongue River High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Custer County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Custer 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 Custer County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Custer County
Is Custer County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Custer County ranks 397th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, cell coverage, and low disaster risk, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Custer County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,640. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $73,246 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Custer County safe?
Yes, Custer County is safer than 84% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
Compare Custer County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Custer County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Custer 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.
Custer County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Custer County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Custer County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Custer County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Custer County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Custer 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.