Best PlacesRosebud County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rosebud County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rosebud County ranks 1,862nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rosebud 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.
Rosebud County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rosebud County ranks high
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of counties
Where Rosebud County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,031 a month, better than only 15% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rosebud County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rosebud County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,486, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Rosebud County's effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rosebud County
Rosebud County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rosebud County.
Who works in Rosebud County, and how
Work in Rosebud County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Rosebud County
Rosebud County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and more parkland per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rosebud County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rosebud County growing, and who is moving in?
Rosebud County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Killeen, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rosebud County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rosebud County, month by month
Rosebud County sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 21° | 11° |
| April | 61° | 45° | 31° |
| July | 93° | 76° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Rosebud County
The nearest airport, Sheridan County, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 429 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rosebud County
Schools across Rosebud County average a D+, better than 10% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sagebrush ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Forsyth Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Tongue River ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tongue River Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Melstone Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Forsyth 7-8C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Sheridan High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Tongue River High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Melstone High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rosebud County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rosebud 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 Rosebud County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Rosebud County
Is Rosebud County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rosebud County ranks 1,862nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, 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 Rosebud County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,024. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $57,486 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Rosebud County safe?
Rosebud County is safer than 31% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $555 per resident a year.
Compare Rosebud County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rosebud County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rosebud 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.
Rosebud County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rosebud County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rosebud County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rosebud County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rosebud County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rosebud 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.