West ranking
4 Montana cities ranked by cost of living, cheapest first.
Index 88
Index 113
Sorted by cost-of-living index — lowest (most affordable) first.
If you're weighing a move to Montana, the case usually comes down to a few specific things — most clearly living costs come in under the national baseline and real mountains, not just hills, plus 2 more. Here's the detail.
Averaged across the cities we have data for, Montana's composite cost-of-living index is about 98 — a comfortable 2% under the US norm. The cheapest cities in the state run even further below. Average median rent across Montana cities runs about $1,101/mo.
Montana's geography is dominated by real mountain terrain — the kind that supports ski resorts in winter and serious hiking and trail networks the rest of the year. Outdoor life is a defining piece of how the state is lived, not a thing you have to drive eight hours to access.
Montana has the full four-season rotation, with winters that are cold enough to matter — meaning real snow, real ski resorts, and a culture that's built around it instead of pretending it isn't happening. If winter is a thing you actively like, this is the side of the country to be on.
Montana is one of the least densely populated states in the country, which sounds abstract until you've driven through it. Empty highways, big skies, no traffic, and the kind of nature-to-people ratio you can't really replicate by moving to the suburbs of a bigger metro.
Reasons reflect aggregated city data for Montana (Census ACS, BLS, BEA) plus well-known state-level geography. We only list points that are actually supported — different states show different sections.
Across Montana, Billings is the most affordable city we track (cost index 88, with median rent around $1,064/mo), while Bozeman sits at the top of the range with an index of 113—roughly 29% pricier than Billings. Use the table above to compare any Montana city directly against Billings.
The other end of the ranking — priciest first.