Best PlacesPowell County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Powell County, 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.
Powell County ranks 1,742nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on heat safety.
The best neighborhoods in Powell County
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.
Powell County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Powell County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Short commute18.1 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of counties
Where Powell County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,021 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Powell County
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Powell County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $62,700, 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 Powell County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Powell County
Powell County 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 Powell County.
Who works in Powell County, and how
Work in Powell County centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Powell County
Powell County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Powell County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Powell County growing, and who is moving in?
Powell County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Billings, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Powell County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Powell County, month by month
Powell County sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 19° | 6° |
| April | 54° | 38° | 24° |
| July | 85° | 66° | 45° |
| October | 58° | 41° | 27° |
Flying in and out of Powell County
The nearest airport, Bert Mooney, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 262 miles away.
The best schools in and around Powell County
Schools across Powell County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Elk City SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Helmville SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Avon SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- E F Duvall 7-8C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Powell County High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Powell County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Powell County 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 Powell County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Powell County
Is Powell County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Powell County ranks 1,742nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, short commutes, and low crime, and lowest on internet speeds and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Powell County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $331,719. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $62,700 median income, cost of living beats 12% of counties.
Is Powell County safe?
Yes, Powell County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
Compare Powell County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Powell County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Powell County 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.
Powell County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Powell County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Powell County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Powell County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Powell County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Powell County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.