Best PlacesDeer Lodge, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Deer Lodge, 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.
Deer Lodge ranks 23,430th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Deer Lodge
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.
Deer Lodge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Deer Lodge ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.2 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
Where Deer Lodge ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,021 a month, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Deer Lodge
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Deer Lodge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,193, 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 Deer Lodge's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Deer Lodge
Deer Lodge 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 Deer Lodge.
Who works in Deer Lodge, and how
Work in Deer Lodge centers on public administration 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 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Deer Lodge
Deer Lodge has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns and more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Deer Lodge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Deer Lodge, month by month
Deer Lodge sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 19° | 6° |
| April | 54° | 38° | 24° |
| July | 85° | 66° | 45° |
| October | 58° | 41° | 27° |
Flying in and out of Deer Lodge
The nearest airport, Bert Mooney, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 260 miles away.
The best schools in and around Deer Lodge
Schools across Deer Lodge average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Avon SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Boulder Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- O D Speer SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- E F Duvall 7-8C · 35% proficient
- Boulder 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Jefferson High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Powell County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Deer Lodge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Deer Lodge 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 Deer Lodge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Deer Lodge
Is Deer Lodge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Deer Lodge ranks 23,430th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on distance from a big city and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Deer Lodge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $273,767. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $58,193 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Deer Lodge safe?
Yes, Deer Lodge is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $322 per resident a year.
Compare Deer Lodge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Deer Lodge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Deer Lodge 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.
Deer Lodge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Deer Lodge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Deer Lodge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Deer Lodge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Deer Lodge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Deer Lodge 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.