Best PlacesToole County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Toole County, 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.
Toole County ranks 1,245th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Toole 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.
Toole County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Toole County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of counties
Where Toole County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap childcare$971 a month, better than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Toole County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Toole County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,275, 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 Toole County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Toole County
Toole County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Toole County.
Who works in Toole County, and how
Work in Toole County centers on public administration and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Toole County
Toole County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties and more parkland per resident than 89% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Toole County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Toole County growing, and who is moving in?
Toole County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Teton County, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Toole County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Toole County, month by month
Toole County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 23° | 13° |
| April | 55° | 40° | 27° |
| July | 85° | 67° | 49° |
| October | 57° | 42° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Toole County
The nearest airport, Great Falls International, is about 79 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 405 miles away.
The best schools in and around Toole County
Schools across Toole County average a C, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cam Rose SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Valley View Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Sunburst ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shelby 7-8C− · 30% proficient
- Sunburst 7 - 8D− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Sunburst High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Shelby High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Toole County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Toole 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 Toole County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Toole County
Is Toole County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Toole County ranks 1,245th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, clean air, and short commutes, 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 Toole County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $206,974. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $60,275 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Toole County safe?
Toole County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $530 per resident a year.
Compare Toole County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Toole County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Toole 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.
Toole County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Toole County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Toole County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Toole County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Toole County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Toole 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.