Best PlacesElliston, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elliston, 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.
Elliston ranks 39,456th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Elliston
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.
Elliston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elliston ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 148 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 81% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 81% of towns
Where Elliston ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elliston
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elliston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $79,824, 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 Elliston's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 Elliston
Elliston 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 Elliston.
Who works in Elliston, and how
Work in Elliston centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Elliston
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elliston.
What the weather is like in Elliston, month by month
Elliston sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 55° |
| October | 61° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Elliston
The nearest airport, Helena Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 279 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elliston
Schools across Elliston average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Trinity SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Avon SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Kessler Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- C R Anderson Middle SchlB · 46% proficient
- E F Duvall 7-8C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Capital High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Powell County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elliston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elliston 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 Elliston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elliston
Is Elliston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elliston ranks 39,456th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and low property taxes, and lowest on noise 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 Elliston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $443,206. The overall cost of living runs about 34% above the national average. Set against a $79,824 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Elliston safe?
Elliston is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $397 per resident a year.
Compare Elliston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elliston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elliston 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.
Elliston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elliston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elliston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elliston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elliston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elliston 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.