Best PlacesDaniels County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Daniels 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.
Daniels County ranks 729th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Daniels 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.
Daniels County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Daniels County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 179 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
- Short commute13.8 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
Where Daniels County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of counties
- Household income$57,267 median, better than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Daniels County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Daniels County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,267, 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 Daniels County's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 Daniels County
Daniels 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 Daniels County.
Who works in Daniels County, and how
Work in Daniels County centers on agriculture & forestry and information. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Daniels County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Daniels County.
Is Daniels County growing, and who is moving in?
Daniels County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Las Vegas, NV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Daniels County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Daniels County, month by month
Daniels County sees roughly 179 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 54° | 40° | 31° |
| July | 84° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 56° | 43° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Daniels County
The nearest airport, L M Clayton, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 618 miles away.
The best schools in and around Daniels County
Schools across Daniels County average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Scobey SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scobey 7-8B · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Scobey High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Daniels County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Daniels 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 Daniels County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Daniels County
Is Daniels County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Daniels County ranks 729th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Daniels County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,222. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $57,267 median income, cost of living beats 28% of counties.
Is Daniels County safe?
Yes, Daniels County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $405 per resident a year.
Compare Daniels County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Daniels County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Daniels 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.
Daniels County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Daniels County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Daniels County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Daniels County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Daniels County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Daniels 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.