Best PlacesRavalli County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ravalli 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.
Ravalli County ranks 1,059th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ravalli 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.
Ravalli County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ravalli County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of counties
Where Ravalli County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,064 a month, better than only 14% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ravalli County
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ravalli County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,389, 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 Ravalli County's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 Ravalli County
Ravalli County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ravalli County.
Who works in Ravalli County, and how
Work in Ravalli County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Ravalli County
Ravalli County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties and more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ravalli County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ravalli County growing, and who is moving in?
Ravalli County has grown about 18% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Missoula, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ravalli County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ravalli County, month by month
Ravalli County sees roughly 119 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 Ravalli County
The nearest airport, Missoula Montana, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 219 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ravalli County
Schools across Ravalli County average a C, better than 38% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Elk City SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Lone Rock SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Quentin Brown Primary K-4B+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Corvallis 7-8B+ · 48% proficient
- Edna Thomas SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Florence-carlton 6-8C+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Hamilton High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Stevensville High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Corvallis High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ravalli County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ravalli 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 Ravalli County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ravalli County suits
Families
Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 99%.
Retirees
The weather beats 74% of counties, health care access beats 76%, and it is quieter than 88%.
Common questions about living in Ravalli County
Is Ravalli County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ravalli County ranks 1,059th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, a strong job market, and civic engagement, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ravalli County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $503,058. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $73,389 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Ravalli County safe?
Yes, Ravalli County is safer than 99% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ravalli County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 16. That works out to about 119 pleasant days a year, more than 74% of counties.
Is Ravalli County good for families?
Schools beat 38% of counties, crime safety beats 99%, and childcare runs $1,064 a month.
Compare Ravalli County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ravalli County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ravalli 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.
Ravalli County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ravalli County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ravalli County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ravalli County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ravalli County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ravalli 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.