Best PlacesSanders, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sanders, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sanders ranks 28,129th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Distance from a big city pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Sanders
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.
Sanders' strengths and weaknesses
Where Sanders ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute20.0 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 133 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 80% of towns
Where Sanders ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,091 a month, better than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sanders
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sanders home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $62,915; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Sanders' effective rate of 0.56%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sanders
Sanders 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 Sanders.
Who works in Sanders, and how
Work in Sanders centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sanders
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sanders.
What the weather is like in Sanders, month by month
Sanders sees roughly 133 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 Sanders
The nearest airport, Billings Logan International, is about 82 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Salt Lake City International, about 454 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sanders
Schools across Sanders average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Forsyth Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Hysham SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hysham 7-8B+ · 50% proficient
- Forsyth 7-8C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Forsyth High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sanders school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sanders 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 Sanders against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sanders
Is Sanders a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sanders ranks 28,129th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, short commutes, and the weather, and lowest on distance from a big city and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sanders expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,311. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $62,915 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Sanders safe?
Sanders is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $471 per resident a year.
Compare Sanders with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sanders. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sanders 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.
Sanders detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sanders: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sanders: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sanders: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sanders: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sanders 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.