Best PlacesSweet Grass County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sweet Grass 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.
Sweet Grass County ranks 888th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sweet Grass 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.
Sweet Grass County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sweet Grass County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of counties
Where Sweet Grass County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,022 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sweet Grass County
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sweet Grass County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,757; 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 Sweet Grass County's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sweet Grass County
Sweet Grass 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 Sweet Grass County.
Who works in Sweet Grass County, and how
Work in Sweet Grass County centers on construction and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Sweet Grass County
Sweet Grass County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sweet Grass County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sweet Grass County growing, and who is moving in?
Sweet Grass County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Billings, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sweet Grass County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sweet Grass County, month by month
Sweet Grass County sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 29° | 18° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 49° |
| October | 62° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Sweet Grass County
The nearest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 347 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sweet Grass County
Schools across Sweet Grass County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Reed Point ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Melville SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Big Timber SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Powell Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Cody Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Tongue River Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Cody High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Sweet Grass Co High SchlD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sweet Grass County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sweet Grass 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 Sweet Grass County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sweet Grass County
Is Sweet Grass County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sweet Grass County ranks 888th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, civic engagement, and low property taxes, and lowest on internet speeds and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sweet Grass County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $351,358. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $79,757 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is Sweet Grass County safe?
Yes, Sweet Grass County is safer than 90% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Sweet Grass County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sweet Grass County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sweet Grass 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.
Sweet Grass County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sweet Grass County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sweet Grass County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sweet Grass County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sweet Grass County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sweet Grass 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.