Best PlacesPonderosa Pines, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ponderosa Pines, 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.
Ponderosa Pines ranks 30,174th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ponderosa Pines
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.
Ponderosa Pines' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ponderosa Pines ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
Where Ponderosa Pines ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Short commute36.4 minutes each way, better than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ponderosa Pines
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ponderosa Pines home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,763, 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 Ponderosa Pines' effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Ponderosa Pines
Ponderosa Pines runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ponderosa Pines.
Who works in Ponderosa Pines, and how
Work in Ponderosa Pines centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Ponderosa Pines
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ponderosa Pines.
What the weather is like in Ponderosa Pines, month by month
Ponderosa Pines sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 21° | 7° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 26° |
| July | 89° | 69° | 49° |
| October | 60° | 43° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Ponderosa Pines
The nearest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 293 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ponderosa Pines
Schools across Ponderosa Pines average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Three Forks Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Three Forks 7-8C · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Manhattan H SB+ · 52% proficient
- Three Forks High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ponderosa Pines school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ponderosa Pines 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 Ponderosa Pines against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ponderosa Pines
Is Ponderosa Pines a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ponderosa Pines ranks 30,174th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, heat safety, and clean air, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ponderosa Pines expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $469,800. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $72,763 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Ponderosa Pines safe?
Yes, Ponderosa Pines is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $251 per resident a year.
Compare Ponderosa Pines with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ponderosa Pines. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ponderosa Pines 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.
Ponderosa Pines detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ponderosa Pines: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ponderosa Pines: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ponderosa Pines: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ponderosa Pines: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ponderosa Pines 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.