Best PlacesFort Benton, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Benton, 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.
Fort Benton ranks 6,223rd of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Fort Benton
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.
Fort Benton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Benton ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.3 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
Where Fort Benton ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,005 a month, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Benton
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Benton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,214, 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 Fort Benton's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Fort Benton
Fort Benton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fort Benton.
Who works in Fort Benton, and how
Work in Fort Benton centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Fort Benton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fort Benton.
What the weather is like in Fort Benton, month by month
Fort Benton sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 57° | 43° | 29° |
| July | 88° | 71° | 53° |
| October | 60° | 45° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Fort Benton
The nearest airport, Great Falls International, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 398 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Benton
Schools across Fort Benton average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Highwood SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Geraldine ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Fort Benton SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Geraldine Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Fort Benton 7-8A · 60% proficient
- Highwood Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Benton High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fort Benton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Benton 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 Fort Benton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fort Benton
Is Fort Benton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Benton ranks 6,223rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, civic engagement, and walkability, 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 Fort Benton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,600. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $65,214 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Fort Benton safe?
Yes, Fort Benton is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
Compare Fort Benton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Benton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Benton 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.
Fort Benton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Benton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Benton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Benton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Benton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Benton 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.