Best PlacesGarfield County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Garfield 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.
Garfield County ranks 930th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Garfield 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.
Garfield County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Garfield County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of counties
Where Garfield County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Garfield County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garfield County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,583, 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 Garfield County's effective rate of 0.56%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Garfield County
Garfield County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Garfield County.
Who works in Garfield County, and how
Work in Garfield County centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 45%
- Work from home 43%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Garfield County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Garfield County.
Is Garfield County growing, and who is moving in?
Garfield County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Denver, CO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Garfield County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Garfield County, month by month
Garfield County sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 21° | 9° |
| April | 61° | 45° | 30° |
| July | 92° | 75° | 56° |
| October | 63° | 45° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Garfield County
The nearest airport, Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 515 miles away.
The best schools in and around Garfield County
Schools across Garfield County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cohagen SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Tongue River ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Jordan Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tongue River Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Jordan 7-8C− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Garfield Co Dist HsB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Garfield County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Garfield 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 Garfield County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Garfield County
Is Garfield County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garfield County ranks 930th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, quiet, and civic engagement, and lowest on cell coverage and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Garfield County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,900. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $69,583 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Garfield County safe?
Garfield County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $442 per resident a year.
Compare Garfield County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garfield County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garfield 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.
Garfield County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garfield County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garfield County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garfield County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garfield County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garfield 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.