Best PlacesGallatin County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gallatin County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Gallatin County ranks 120th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $98,805, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are an overheated housing market, childcare costs, and distance from a big city.
The best neighborhoods in Gallatin 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 Gallatin County
The parts of Gallatin 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.
Four Corners
Local pay stretches further, more households have young kids, and more residents vote.
Bozeman
More adults hold degrees and biking is better.
Big Sky
It is quieter, though more homes sit empty.
Belgrade
Crime runs lower, though schools score lower.
Manhattan & Three Forks
Homes cost less, though commutes are longer.
Scores across Gallatin County run from about the 17th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Gallatin County's strengths and weaknesses
Gallatin County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Population health is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. An educated workforce and a strong job market follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. An overheated housing market, childcare costs, and distance from a big city hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Gallatin County ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
Where Gallatin County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,125 a month, better than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 24% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 31% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gallatin County
A household needs to earn about $174,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gallatin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,805, 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 Gallatin County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Gallatin County
Gallatin County runs younger 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 Gallatin County.
Who works in Gallatin County, and how
Work in Gallatin County centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Gallatin County
Gallatin County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of counties and more parkland per resident than 93% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gallatin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gallatin County growing, and who is moving in?
Gallatin County has grown about 30% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Morrill County, NE.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gallatin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gallatin County, month by month
Gallatin County sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 21° | 7° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 26° |
| July | 89° | 69° | 49° |
| October | 60° | 43° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Gallatin County
The nearest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 290 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gallatin County
Schools across Gallatin County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Morning Star SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Cottonwood SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Longfellow SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Anderson 7-8A+ · 80% proficient
- Monforton 6-8A · 65% proficient
- Powell Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Bozeman High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Lone Peak High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Manhattan H SB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gallatin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gallatin 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 Gallatin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gallatin County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of counties and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 72% of counties and health care access beats 56%.
Common questions about living in Gallatin County
Is Gallatin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gallatin County ranks 120th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gallatin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $684,823. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $98,805 median income, cost of living beats 75% of counties.
Is Gallatin County safe?
Yes, Gallatin County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $372 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gallatin County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 7. That works out to about 117 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Gallatin County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Four Corners, Bozeman, and Big Sky. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Gallatin County good for families?
Schools beat 86% of counties, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,125 a month.
Is Gallatin County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 32% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Gallatin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gallatin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gallatin 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.
Gallatin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gallatin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gallatin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gallatin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gallatin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gallatin 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.