Best PlacesMc Leod, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mc Leod, 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.
Mc Leod ranks 28,387th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mc Leod
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.
Mc Leod's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mc Leod ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 112 pleasant days a year, better than 75% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 74% of towns
Where Mc Leod ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mc Leod
A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mc Leod home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,765, 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 Mc Leod's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 Mc Leod
Mc Leod 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 Mc Leod.
Who works in Mc Leod, and how
Work in Mc Leod centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Mc Leod
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mc Leod.
What the weather is like in Mc Leod, month by month
Mc Leod sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 29° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 49° |
| October | 62° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Mc Leod
The nearest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 333 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mc Leod
Schools across Mc Leod average a B−, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gardiner SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Big Timber SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- East Side SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cody Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Big Timber 7-8B− · 43% proficient
- Gardiner 7-8B− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Gardiner High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Cody High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Park High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mc Leod school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mc Leod 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 Mc Leod against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mc Leod
Is Mc Leod a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mc Leod ranks 28,387th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, low taxes, and clean air, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mc Leod expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $498,170. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $80,765 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is Mc Leod safe?
Yes, Mc Leod is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $342 per resident a year.
Compare Mc Leod with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mc Leod. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mc Leod 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.
Mc Leod detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mc Leod: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mc Leod: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mc Leod: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mc Leod: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mc Leod 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.