Best PlacesGlacier Colony, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Glacier Colony, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Glacier Colony ranks 23,307th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Glacier Colony
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.
Glacier Colony's strengths and weaknesses
Where Glacier Colony ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$123,779 median, better than 94% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 148 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
Where Glacier Colony ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Glacier Colony
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Glacier Colony home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $123,779, 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 Glacier Colony's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Glacier Colony
Glacier Colony runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Glacier Colony.
Who works in Glacier Colony, and how
Work in Glacier Colony centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Glacier Colony
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Glacier Colony.
What the weather is like in Glacier Colony, month by month
Glacier Colony sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 55° | 40° | 27° |
| July | 85° | 67° | 49° |
| October | 57° | 42° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Glacier Colony
The nearest airport, Glacier Park International, is about 99 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 Glacier Colony
Schools across Glacier Colony average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Valley View Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Sunburst ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Mountain View ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Boundary County Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Sunburst 7 - 8D− · 16% proficient
- Browning Middle SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Sunburst High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Clark Fork Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Cut Bank High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Glacier Colony school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Glacier Colony 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 Glacier Colony against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Glacier Colony
Is Glacier Colony a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Glacier Colony ranks 23,307th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low disaster risk, and what local pay buys, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Glacier Colony expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $298,982. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $123,779 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Glacier Colony safe?
Glacier Colony is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $885 per resident a year.
Compare Glacier Colony with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Glacier Colony. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Glacier Colony 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.
Glacier Colony detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Glacier Colony: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Glacier Colony: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Glacier Colony: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Glacier Colony: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Glacier Colony 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.