Best PlacesRockvale, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rockvale, 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.
Rockvale ranks 10,032nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rockvale
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.
Rockvale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockvale ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 135 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of towns
Where Rockvale ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rockvale
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockvale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,017, 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 Rockvale's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Rockvale
Rockvale runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rockvale.
Who works in Rockvale, and how
Work in Rockvale centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Rockvale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rockvale.
What the weather is like in Rockvale, month by month
Rockvale sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 27° | 17° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 92° | 75° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 48° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Rockvale
The nearest airport, Billings Logan International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 362 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockvale
Schools across Rockvale average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Joliet SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Fromberg SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joliet Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Fromberg Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Joliet High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Fromberg High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockvale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockvale 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 Rockvale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rockvale
Is Rockvale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockvale ranks 10,032nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, a strong job market, and low taxes, and lowest on internet speeds and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rockvale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $455,827. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $84,017 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is Rockvale safe?
Yes, Rockvale is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
Compare Rockvale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockvale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockvale 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.
Rockvale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockvale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockvale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockvale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockvale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockvale 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.