Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Great Falls's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Great Falls?
Your $100,000 in Great Falls has the same purchasing power as $105,507 in the average US city. You'd need $5,507 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Great Falls's cost index of 95, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Great Falls, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously cheaper than the national average, with no fine print and jobs are easy to find right now, plus 3 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Great Falls sits at 95 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 5% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $828/mo against a typical household income of $58,272, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Unemployment in Great Falls is running about 3.4% — below the typical US baseline of around 4%. That usually translates to a job market where employers compete for workers more than the other way around, which is the better side of that equation to be on if you're the one moving.
Great Falls's Walk Score is 91/100 — top-tier walkability by US standards. Groceries, coffee, work, social life: most of it lands within reasonable foot range of wherever you live. A lot of residents skip car ownership entirely, which is its own form of savings on top of the lifestyle change.
Great Falls's air quality index averages about 34 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Great Falls is about 15 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Great Falls's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Yes, several times a winter. Great Falls's winter average of about 25°F sits right around freezing, so storms typically drop real snow that lingers a few days before slush sets in.
Cold but workable. Winter in Great Falls averages about 25°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Great Falls runs about 81°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 8. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 8 or colder should survive a typical winter in Great Falls. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Great Falls sits at about 3,330 feet (1,015 m) — meaningfully higher than coastal cities, but not high enough to noticeably affect breathing or cooking.
Higher than average. Great Falls reports about 5,001 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
Roughly average. Great Falls's cost-of-living index is 95, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Genuinely so. Great Falls's Walk Score of 91 out of 100 puts it in "Walker's Paradise" territory — daily errands don't require a car at all. Many residents skip car ownership entirely.
Roughly $66,346 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Great Falls runs about $828/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.