Best PlacesMineral County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mineral County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mineral County ranks 2,552nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Mineral 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.
Mineral County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mineral County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 82% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 75% of counties
Where Mineral County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mineral County
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mineral County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,989, 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 Mineral County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Mineral County
Mineral 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 Mineral County.
Who works in Mineral County, and how
Work in Mineral County centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Mineral County
Mineral County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Mineral County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Mineral County growing, and who is moving in?
Mineral County has grown about 24% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bozeman, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mineral County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mineral County, month by month
Mineral County sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 23° | 18° |
| April | 43° | 33° | 26° |
| July | 74° | 62° | 53° |
| October | 47° | 38° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Mineral County
The nearest airport, Missoula Montana, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 258 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mineral County
Schools across Mineral County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- St Regis SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Timberline ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Superior ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Superior 7-8D+ · 26% proficient
- St Regis 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
- Alberton 7-8D− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Alberton High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Timberline High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- St Regis High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mineral County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mineral 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 Mineral County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Mineral County
Is Mineral County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mineral County ranks 2,552nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, clean air, and a strong job market, and lowest on internet speeds 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 Mineral County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $369,427. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $63,989 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Mineral County safe?
Yes, Mineral County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $410 per resident a year.
Compare Mineral County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mineral County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mineral 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.
Mineral County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mineral County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mineral County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mineral County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mineral County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mineral 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.