Best PlacesKalispell, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kalispell, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kalispell ranks 841st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kalispell
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.
Kalispell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kalispell ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of cities
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 94% of cities
- QuietBetter than 93% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 89% of cities
Where Kalispell ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kalispell
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kalispell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,556, 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 Kalispell's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Kalispell
Kalispell's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kalispell.
Who works in Kalispell, and how
Work in Kalispell centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Kalispell
Kalispell has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kalispell and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kalispell, month by month
Kalispell sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 58° | 43° | 28° |
| July | 87° | 68° | 47° |
| October | 58° | 42° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Kalispell
The nearest airport, Glacier Park International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 334 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kalispell
Schools across Kalispell average a B, better than 60% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Deer Park SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Edgerton SchoolA · 64% proficient
- L A Muldown SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Deer Park 6-8A · 60% proficient
- Kalispell Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- West Valley Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Whitefish High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Glacier High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Flathead High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kalispell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kalispell 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 Kalispell against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kalispell suits
Common questions about living in Kalispell
Is Kalispell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kalispell ranks 841st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, 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 Kalispell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $494,279. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $74,556 median income, cost of living beats 33% of cities.
Is Kalispell safe?
Yes, Kalispell is safer than 96% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $240 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kalispell?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 16. That works out to about 94 pleasant days a year, more than 56% of cities.
Is Kalispell good for families?
Schools beat 60% of cities, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $1,050 a month.
Compare Kalispell with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kalispell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kalispell 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.
Kalispell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kalispell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kalispell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kalispell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kalispell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kalispell 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.