Best PlacesPinesdale, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pinesdale, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pinesdale ranks 17,783rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pinesdale
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.
Pinesdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pinesdale ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
Where Pinesdale ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pinesdale
A household needs to earn about $144,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pinesdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,981, 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 Pinesdale'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 Pinesdale
Pinesdale runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pinesdale.
Who works in Pinesdale, and how
Work in Pinesdale centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pinesdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pinesdale.
What the weather is like in Pinesdale, month by month
Pinesdale sees roughly 116 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 Pinesdale
The nearest airport, Missoula Montana, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 215 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pinesdale
Schools across Pinesdale average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Quentin Brown Primary K-4B+ · 53% proficient
- Victor SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Edna Thomas SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Hamilton Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Victor Middle SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Hamilton High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Corvallis High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Victor High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pinesdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pinesdale 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 Pinesdale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pinesdale
Is Pinesdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pinesdale ranks 17,783rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, clean air, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Pinesdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $587,960. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $77,981 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Pinesdale safe?
Yes, Pinesdale is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
Compare Pinesdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pinesdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pinesdale 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.
Pinesdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pinesdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pinesdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pinesdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pinesdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pinesdale 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.