Best PlacesPolaris, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Polaris, 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.
Polaris ranks 20,065th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Polaris
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.
Polaris' strengths and weaknesses
Where Polaris ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 129 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of towns
Where Polaris ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,003 a month, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Polaris
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Polaris home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,917, 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 Polaris' effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Polaris
Polaris 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 Polaris.
Who works in Polaris, and how
Work in Polaris centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Polaris
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Polaris.
What the weather is like in Polaris, month by month
Polaris sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 17° | 5° |
| April | 53° | 37° | 24° |
| July | 84° | 65° | 44° |
| October | 56° | 40° | 26° |
Flying in and out of Polaris
The nearest airport, Bert Mooney, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 200 miles away.
The best schools in and around Polaris
Schools across Polaris average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Reichle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Parkview SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Wise River SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dillon Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Beaverhead Co High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Polaris school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Polaris 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 Polaris against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Polaris
Is Polaris a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Polaris ranks 20,065th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on distance from a big city and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Polaris expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,459. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $61,917 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Polaris safe?
Yes, Polaris is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $368 per resident a year.
Compare Polaris with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Polaris. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Polaris 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.
Polaris detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Polaris: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Polaris: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Polaris: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Polaris: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Polaris 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.