Best PlacesNorthside, Missoula, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Northside, Missoula, 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.
Northside, Missoula ranks 3,035th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Northside, Missoula
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.
Northside, Missoula's strengths and weaknesses
Where Northside, Missoula ranks high
- Short commute16.2 minutes each way, better than 95% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
Where Northside, Missoula ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Northside, Missoula
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Northside, Missoula home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,520, 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 Northside, Missoula's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Northside, Missoula
Northside, Missoula runs younger 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 Northside, Missoula.
Who works in Northside, Missoula, and how
Work in Northside, Missoula centers on health care & social and admin & support services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Northside, Missoula
Northside, Missoula has more parkland per resident than 93% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Northside, Missoula and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Northside, Missoula, month by month
Northside, Missoula sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 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° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 31° |
| July | 91° | 71° | 51° |
| October | 60° | 44° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Northside, Missoula
The nearest airport, Missoula Montana, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 254 miles away.
The best schools in and around Northside, Missoula
Schools across Northside, Missoula average a B−, better than 58% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Rattlesnake Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Lowell SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Porter Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Hellgate High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Big Sky High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Northside, Missoula school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Northside, Missoula 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 Northside, Missoula against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Northside, Missoula
Is Northside, Missoula a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Northside, Missoula ranks 3,035th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and heat safety, 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 Northside, Missoula expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $488,196. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $77,520 median income, cost of living beats 44% of neighborhoods.
Is Northside, Missoula safe?
Northside, Missoula is safer than 47% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $662 per resident a year.
Compare Northside, Missoula with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Northside, Missoula. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Northside, Missoula 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.
Northside, Missoula detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Northside, Missoula: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Northside, Missoula: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Northside, Missoula: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Northside, Missoula: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Northside, Missoula 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.