Best PlacesTownsend, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Townsend, 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.
Townsend ranks 21,107th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Townsend
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.
Townsend's strengths and weaknesses
Where Townsend ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
Where Townsend ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,042 a month, better than only 22% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Townsend
A household needs to earn about $101,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Townsend home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,112, 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 Townsend's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Townsend
Townsend runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Townsend.
Who works in Townsend, and how
Work in Townsend centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Townsend
Townsend has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Townsend and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Townsend, month by month
Townsend sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 23° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 55° |
| October | 61° | 46° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Townsend
The nearest airport, Helena Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 300 miles away.
The best schools in and around Townsend
Schools across Townsend average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Salmon Pioneer Primary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Cecelia Hazelton SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- White Sulphur Springs ElD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Townsend 7-8B− · 43% proficient
- White Sulphur Springs 7-8D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Broadwater High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Salmon Jr/sr High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- White Sulphur Springs HsD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Townsend school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Townsend 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 Townsend against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Townsend
Is Townsend a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Townsend ranks 21,107th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, civic engagement, and biking, 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 Townsend expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $396,033. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $73,112 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Townsend safe?
Yes, Townsend is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $355 per resident a year.
Compare Townsend with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Townsend. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Townsend 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.
Townsend detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Townsend: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Townsend: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Townsend: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Townsend: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Townsend 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.