Best PlacesValley County, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Valley County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Valley County ranks 1,183rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Valley 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.
Valley County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Valley County ranks high
- Short commute15.3 minutes each way, better than 95% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 77% of counties
Where Valley County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Valley County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Valley County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,733, 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 Valley County's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 Valley County
Valley County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Valley County.
Who works in Valley County, and how
Work in Valley County centers on health care & social 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 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Valley County
Valley County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Valley County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Valley County growing, and who is moving in?
Valley County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Roosevelt County, MT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Valley County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Valley County, month by month
Valley County sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 17° | 7° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 30° |
| July | 91° | 74° | 58° |
| October | 61° | 45° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Valley County
The nearest airport, Wokal Field/Glasgow-Valley County, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 566 miles away.
The best schools in and around Valley County
Schools across Valley County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Opheim SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Lustre SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Saco SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Saco 7-8A+ · 75% proficient
- Glasgow Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Nashua 6-8D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Nashua High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Frazer High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Glasgow High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Valley County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Valley 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 Valley County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Valley County
Is Valley County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Valley County ranks 1,183rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Valley County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,045. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $73,733 median income, cost of living beats 71% of counties.
Is Valley County safe?
Valley County is safer than 42% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $509 per resident a year.
Compare Valley County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Valley County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Valley 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.
Valley County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Valley County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Valley County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Valley County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Valley County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Valley 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.