Best PlacesLavina, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lavina, 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.
Lavina ranks 25,863rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lavina
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.
Lavina's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lavina ranks high
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 130 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where Lavina ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,073 a month, better than only 21% of towns
- Short commute32.3 minutes each way, better than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lavina
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lavina home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,617, 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 Lavina's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 Lavina
Lavina runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lavina.
Who works in Lavina, and how
Work in Lavina centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Lavina
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lavina.
What the weather is like in Lavina, month by month
Lavina sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 27° | 17° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 92° | 75° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 48° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Lavina
The nearest airport, Billings Logan International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 404 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lavina
Schools across Lavina average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Broadview SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Roundup ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Lavina ElementaryC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Broadview 7-8A · 60% proficient
- Rocky Mountain Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Lavina Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Rocky Mountain High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Broadview High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Roundup H SD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lavina school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lavina 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 Lavina against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lavina
Is Lavina a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lavina ranks 25,863rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and low taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lavina expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $243,294. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $64,617 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Lavina safe?
Yes, Lavina is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $290 per resident a year.
Compare Lavina with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lavina. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lavina 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.
Lavina detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lavina: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lavina: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lavina: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lavina: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lavina 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.