Best PlacesFlathead County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Flathead County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Flathead County ranks 492nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: local pay stretches further than in most of the country, and crime is low. The trade is an overheated housing market: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in Flathead 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.
The best areas in Flathead County
The parts of Flathead County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Columbia Falls
It is quieter, more households have young kids, and crime runs lower.
Whitefish
Biking is better, though more homes sit empty.
Evergreen
Tree cover is thinner and fewer adults hold degrees.
Bigfork
More residents vote, though streets are more car-dependent.
Kalispell
Homes cost less, though incomes run lower.
Flathead County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 10% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Flathead County's strengths and weaknesses
Flathead County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low crime is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. A strong job market and clean air follow.
The one real hole is an overheated housing market, near the bottom of the country. Distance from a big city and childcare costs also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Flathead County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
Where Flathead County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,050 a month, better than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 35% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Flathead County
A household needs to earn about $134,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Flathead County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,937, 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 Flathead County's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Flathead County
Flathead County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Flathead County.
Who works in Flathead County, and how
Work in Flathead County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Flathead County
Flathead County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and more parkland per resident than 77% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Flathead County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Flathead County growing, and who is moving in?
Flathead County has grown about 21% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Flathead County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Flathead County, month by month
Flathead County sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 43° | 28° |
| July | 87° | 68° | 47° |
| October | 58° | 42° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Flathead County
The nearest airport, Glacier Park International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 337 miles away.
The best schools in and around Flathead County
Schools across Flathead County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Deer Park SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Edgerton SchoolA · 64% proficient
- L A Muldown SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Deer Park 6-8A · 60% proficient
- Kalispell Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- West Valley Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Whitefish High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Glacier High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Clark Fork Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Flathead County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Flathead 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 Flathead County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Flathead County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 56% of counties, health care access beats 66%, and it is quieter than 59%.
Common questions about living in Flathead County
Is Flathead County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Flathead County ranks 492nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, a strong job market, and clean air, and lowest on an overheated housing market 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 Flathead County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $530,549. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $76,937 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Flathead County safe?
Yes, Flathead County is safer than 99% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Flathead County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 16. That works out to about 94 pleasant days a year, more than 56% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Flathead County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Columbia Falls, Whitefish, and Evergreen. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Flathead County good for families?
Schools beat 68% of counties, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,050 a month.
Is Flathead County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 51% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 35% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Flathead County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Flathead County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Flathead 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.
Flathead County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Flathead County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Flathead County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Flathead County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Flathead County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Flathead 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.