Best PlacesThompson Falls, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thompson Falls, 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.
Thompson Falls ranks 30,019th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thompson Falls
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.
Thompson Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Thompson Falls ranks high
- Short commute17.2 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 76% of towns
Where Thompson Falls ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,009 a month, better than only 24% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thompson Falls
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thompson Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $59,846, 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 Thompson Falls' effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Thompson Falls
Thompson Falls 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 Thompson Falls.
Who works in Thompson Falls, and how
Work in Thompson Falls centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Thompson Falls
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thompson Falls.
What the weather is like in Thompson Falls, month by month
Thompson Falls sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 23° | 18° |
| April | 43° | 33° | 26° |
| July | 74° | 62° | 53° |
| October | 47° | 38° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Thompson Falls
The nearest airport, Glacier Park International, is about 69 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 283 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thompson Falls
Schools across Thompson Falls average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Libby Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Thompson Falls Elem SchlB− · 40% proficient
- Trout Creek SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Libby Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Thompson Falls 7-8C · 35% proficient
- St Regis 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Thompson Falls High SchlC− · 30% proficient
- Libby High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- St Regis High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thompson Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thompson Falls 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 Thompson Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thompson Falls
Is Thompson Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thompson Falls ranks 30,019th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market 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 Thompson Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,166. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $59,846 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Thompson Falls safe?
Thompson Falls is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $543 per resident a year.
Compare Thompson Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thompson Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thompson Falls 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.
Thompson Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thompson Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thompson Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thompson Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thompson Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thompson Falls 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.