Best PlacesHill County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hill 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.
Hill County ranks 900th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Hill 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.
Hill County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hill County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- Short commute13.1 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 142 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of counties
Where Hill County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$993 a month, better than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hill County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hill County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,611, 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 Hill County's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Hill County
Hill County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hill County.
Who works in Hill County, and how
Work in Hill County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Hill County
Hill County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hill County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hill County growing, and who is moving in?
Hill County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Blaine County, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hill County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hill County, month by month
Hill County sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 20° | 8° |
| April | 59° | 43° | 28° |
| July | 91° | 72° | 53° |
| October | 60° | 43° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Hill County
The nearest airport, Havre City-County, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 461 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hill County
Schools across Hill County average a C, better than 40% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chester-joplin-inverness SchlA− · 60% proficient
- Gildford Colony SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Cottonwood SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rocky Mountain Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- North Star 7-8B+ · 50% proficient
- Havre Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Chester-joplin-inverness HsB+ · 58% proficient
- Havre High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- North Star High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hill County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hill 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 Hill County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Hill County
Is Hill County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hill County ranks 900th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hill County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,828. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $60,611 median income, cost of living beats 34% of counties.
Is Hill County safe?
Hill County is safer than 31% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $537 per resident a year.
Compare Hill County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hill County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hill 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.
Hill County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hill County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hill County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hill County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hill County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hill 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.