Best PlacesZortman, MT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Zortman, 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.
Zortman ranks 35,202nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Zortman
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.
Zortman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Zortman ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of towns
Where Zortman ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Zortman
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Zortman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $53,418, 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 Zortman's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Zortman
Zortman 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 Zortman.
Who works in Zortman, and how
Work in Zortman centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Zortman
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Zortman.
What the weather is like in Zortman, month by month
Zortman sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 27° | 17° |
| April | 56° | 43° | 30° |
| July | 88° | 73° | 56° |
| October | 60° | 46° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Zortman
The nearest airport, Havre City-County, is about 73 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 478 miles away.
The best schools in and around Zortman
Schools across Zortman average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Malta K-5B · 50% proficient
- Winifred SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Winnett SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Winifred 6-8A · 60% proficient
- Winnett 7-8B+ · 50% proficient
- Malta 6-7-8B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Winifred High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Dodson High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Winnett High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Zortman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Zortman 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 Zortman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Zortman
Is Zortman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Zortman ranks 35,202nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low disaster risk, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Zortman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $259,900. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $53,418 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Zortman safe?
Zortman is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $805 per resident a year.
Compare Zortman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Zortman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Zortman 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.
Zortman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Zortman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Zortman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Zortman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Zortman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Zortman 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.