Best PlacesEkalaka, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ekalaka, 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.
Ekalaka ranks 26,794th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ekalaka
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.
Ekalaka's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ekalaka ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 121 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
Where Ekalaka ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$50,956 median, better than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ekalaka
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ekalaka home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,956, 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 Ekalaka's effective rate of 0.21%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ekalaka
Ekalaka 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 Ekalaka.
Who works in Ekalaka, and how
Work in Ekalaka centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 63%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Ekalaka
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ekalaka.
What the weather is like in Ekalaka, month by month
Ekalaka sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 20° | 8° |
| April | 57° | 41° | 27° |
| July | 90° | 73° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Ekalaka
The nearest airport, Dickinson/Theodore Roosevelt Regional, is about 106 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 417 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ekalaka
Schools across Ekalaka average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Little Powder ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Tongue River ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Ekalaka Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Broadus 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
- Ekalaka 7-8D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Powder River Co Dist HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ekalaka school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ekalaka 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 Ekalaka against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ekalaka
Is Ekalaka a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ekalaka ranks 26,794th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, quiet, and short commutes, 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 Ekalaka expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,354. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $50,956 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Ekalaka safe?
Ekalaka is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $376 per resident a year.
Compare Ekalaka with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ekalaka. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ekalaka 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.
Ekalaka detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ekalaka: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ekalaka: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ekalaka: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ekalaka: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ekalaka 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.