Butte-Silver Bow, MT

Metro Area Profile

35,785 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Butte-Silver Bow, MT metropolitan area.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
GrowthTop 40% of 821 metros measured56
Housing affordability573rd of 822 metros measured87
Climate809th of 822 metros measured47
Physical resilienceTop 11% of 822 metros measured83
AccessTop 7% of 822 metros measured98
Economic stability462nd of 822 metros measured46
The quick read

111 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 7% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing Butte-Silver Bow in the top 11% for physical resilience.

A major airport is 9 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
35,785
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,754
Bottom 32% nationally
Density
50/sq mi
718.0 sq mi of land
Median age
40.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Butte-Silver Bow, MT
Nearest major airport
BTM
9 mi · Bert Mooney
Median home value
$255,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,962$61,754Bottom 32%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,695$35,951Top 48%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.8%Top 40%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute17.9 minBottom 5%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher28.0%Top 39%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Labor force participation60.8%Top 47%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $863 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
16.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$863
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$255,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income4.13Top 24%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.8%Top 43%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5217,499Bottom 20%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$78$863Bottom 26%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,456$255,200Top 35%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.8%Bottom 30%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.9%Top 47%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
56/ 100
Top 40% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 36,134 in 2024.

At 3.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
111
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.1
Top 42% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
22.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202436k35k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

3 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 8°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 12.8 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BUTTE BERT MOONEY AP, 9.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation12.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low8°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months31991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

83 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, wildfire and avalanche.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 93% of measured US metros.

EarthquakeElevated
WildfireElevated
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, landslide, cold wave, lightning, hail, inland flooding, drought, heat wave, ice storm, strong wind, tornado.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bert MooneyBTM9 mi9,000 ft
Helena RgnlHLN59 mi9,000 ft
Bozeman Yellowstone IntlBZN73 mi8,994 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.