Best PlacesFergus County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fergus County, 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.
Fergus County ranks 1,014th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fergus 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.
Fergus County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fergus County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of counties
- Short commute18.3 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of counties
Where Fergus County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cheap childcare$990 a month, better than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fergus County
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fergus County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $68,951; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Fergus County's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Fergus County
Fergus 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 Fergus County.
Who works in Fergus County, and how
Work in Fergus County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Fergus County
Fergus County has more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Fergus County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fergus County growing, and who is moving in?
Fergus County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Billings, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fergus County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fergus County, month by month
Fergus County sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 25° | 13° |
| April | 55° | 40° | 27° |
| July | 86° | 68° | 50° |
| October | 59° | 43° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Fergus County
The nearest airport, Great Falls International, is about 96 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 411 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fergus County
Schools across Fergus County average a C+, better than 52% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Denton SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Moore SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- King Colony SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winifred 6-8A · 60% proficient
- Lewis & Clark SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Rocky Mountain Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Rocky Mountain High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Winifred High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Fergus High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fergus County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fergus 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 Fergus County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Fergus County
Is Fergus County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fergus County ranks 1,014th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fergus County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,900. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $68,951 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Fergus County safe?
Yes, Fergus County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $426 per resident a year.
Compare Fergus County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fergus County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fergus 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.
Fergus County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fergus County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fergus County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fergus County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fergus County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fergus 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.