Best PlacesLewis and Clark County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lewis and Clark County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lewis and Clark County ranks 242nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lewis and Clark 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.
The best areas in Lewis and Clark County
The parts of Lewis and Clark County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Helena
Streets are more walkable, biking is better, and more adults hold degrees.
East Helena
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Helena Valley West Central & Helena Valley Northwest
It is noisier and tree cover is thinner.
Helena Valley Southeast & Helena Valley Northeast
Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.
Scores across Lewis and Clark County run from about the 22nd to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Lewis and Clark County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lewis and Clark County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 153 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of counties
Where Lewis and Clark County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,023 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 28% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lewis and Clark County
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lewis and Clark County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,439, 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 Lewis and Clark County's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Lewis and Clark County
Lewis and Clark County 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 Lewis and Clark County.
Who works in Lewis and Clark County, and how
Work in Lewis and Clark County 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 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Lewis and Clark County
Lewis and Clark County has more parkland per resident than 81% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lewis and Clark County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lewis and Clark County growing, and who is moving in?
Lewis and Clark County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Helena, MT metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lewis and Clark County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lewis and Clark County, month by month
Lewis and Clark County sees roughly 153 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 Lewis and Clark County
The nearest airport, Helena Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 296 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lewis and Clark County
Schools across Lewis and Clark County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Trinity SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Elk City SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Jefferson SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Augusta 7-8B+ · 50% proficient
- C R Anderson Middle SchlB · 46% proficient
- Lincoln 7-8B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Helena High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Capital High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Lincoln High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lewis and Clark County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lewis and Clark 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 Lewis and Clark County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lewis and Clark County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 93% of counties and health care access beats 80%.
Common questions about living in Lewis and Clark County
Is Lewis and Clark County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lewis and Clark County ranks 242nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, a strong job market, and the weather, 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 Lewis and Clark County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $398,573. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $80,439 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Lewis and Clark County safe?
Yes, Lewis and Clark County is safer than 90% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lewis and Clark County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 12. That works out to about 153 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lewis and Clark County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Helena, East Helena, and Helena Valley West Central & Helena Valley Northwest. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lewis and Clark County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lewis and Clark County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lewis and Clark 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.
Lewis and Clark County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lewis and Clark County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lewis and Clark County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lewis and Clark County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lewis and Clark County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lewis and Clark 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.