Best PlacesHelena Valley Northeast, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Helena Valley Northeast, 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.
Helena Valley Northeast ranks 1,009th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Helena Valley Northeast
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.
Helena Valley Northeast's strengths and weaknesses
Where Helena Valley Northeast ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$137,064 median, better than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of towns
Where Helena Valley Northeast ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,023 a month, better than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 40% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Helena Valley Northeast
A household needs to earn about $146,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Helena Valley Northeast home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $137,064; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Helena Valley Northeast's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Helena Valley Northeast
Helena Valley Northeast runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Helena Valley Northeast.
Who works in Helena Valley Northeast, and how
Work in Helena Valley Northeast centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Helena Valley Northeast
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Helena Valley Northeast.
What the weather is like in Helena Valley Northeast, month by month
Helena Valley Northeast sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 55° |
| October | 61° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Helena Valley Northeast
The nearest airport, Helena Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 300 miles away.
The best schools in and around Helena Valley Northeast
Schools across Helena Valley Northeast average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Warren SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Rossiter SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Jim Darcy SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- C R Anderson Middle SchlB · 46% proficient
- Helena Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Helena High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Capital High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Helena Valley Northeast school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Helena Valley Northeast 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 Helena Valley Northeast against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Helena Valley Northeast
Is Helena Valley Northeast a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Helena Valley Northeast ranks 1,009th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Helena Valley Northeast expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $569,444. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $137,064 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Helena Valley Northeast safe?
Yes, Helena Valley Northeast is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $294 per resident a year.
Compare Helena Valley Northeast with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Helena Valley Northeast. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Helena Valley Northeast 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.
Helena Valley Northeast detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Helena Valley Northeast: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Helena Valley Northeast: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Helena Valley Northeast: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Helena Valley Northeast: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Helena Valley Northeast 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.