Best PlacesPerma, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Perma, 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.
Perma ranks 38,851st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Perma
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.
Perma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Perma ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute20.3 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 118 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of towns
Where Perma ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Perma
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Perma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $53,154, 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 Perma's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 Perma
Perma runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Perma.
Who works in Perma, and how
Work in Perma centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Perma
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Perma.
What the weather is like in Perma, month by month
Perma sees roughly 118 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 Perma
The nearest airport, Missoula Montana, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 273 miles away.
The best schools in and around Perma
Schools across Perma average a C−, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Thompson Falls Elem SchlB− · 40% proficient
- Dixon ElementaryD− · 16% proficient
- Hot Springs SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thompson Falls 7-8C · 35% proficient
- Hot Springs 7-8C− · 30% proficient
- Dixon 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Charlo High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Hot Springs High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Plains High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Perma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Perma 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 Perma against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Perma
Is Perma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Perma ranks 38,851st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on biking 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 Perma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $303,116. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $53,154 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Perma safe?
Perma is safer than 43% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $426 per resident a year.
Compare Perma with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Perma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Perma 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.
Perma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Perma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Perma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Perma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Perma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Perma 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.