Billings, Montana
Area Profile
119,434 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Billings, in Yellowstone County.
Billings ranks in the top 22% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $73,712.
Residential permitting has slowed: 539 units authorized over the past twelve months, 16% below the prior year.
Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Billings in the top 14% for physical resilience.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 3.4% is lower than 87% of the 3,904 measured US cities.
Employment fell 0.1% over the past year, to 61,796 employed residents.
37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$3,113 | $73,712 | Top 41% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,047 | $43,934 | Top 25% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 9.8% | Bottom 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 17.7 min | Bottom 11% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 36.9% | Top 22% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 61,796 | Top 46% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | -0.3% | Bottom 46% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -0.1% | Top 32% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 64,000 | Top 46% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 66.0% | Top 30% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $61,900 | Bottom 22% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $49,060 | Bottom 34% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.2% | Top 44% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.4% | Bottom 13% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 3,310 | $29,130 |
| Retail Salespersons | 2,900 | $35,760 |
| Registered Nurses | 2,550 | $82,300 |
| General and Operations Managers | 2,030 | $96,980 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 1,990 | $60,850 |
| Cashiers | 1,880 | $33,120 |
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Schools
How it’s calculated →42% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 46% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 16.8 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billings West High School | Billings H S | 2,115 | 15.3 | — | — |
| Skyview High School | Billings H S | 1,542 | 18.8 | — | — |
| Ben Steele Middle School | Billings Elem | 740 | 18.5 | 32% | 52% |
| Castle Rock Middle School | Billings Elem | 691 | 17.7 | 42% | 42% |
| Meadowlark School | Billings Elem | 691 | 18.7 | 64% | 58% |
| Will James Middle School | Billings Elem | 634 | 17.1 | 32% | 47% |
| Medicine Crow Middle School | Billings Elem | 517 | 16.7 | 22% | 42% |
| Boulder School | Billings Elem | 495 | 19.0 | 55% | 47% |
| Elder Grove School | Elder Grove Elem | 465 | 18.6 | 47% | 49% |
| Eagle Cliffs Elementary | Billings Elem | 443 | 17.7 | 45% | 46% |
| Arrowhead School | Billings Elem | 434 | 18.9 | 60% | 66% |
| Broadwater School | Billings Elem | 400 | 16.7 | 34% | 44% |
39.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Montana’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $1,138 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 4.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 4.66 | Top 19% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 64.8% | Bottom 28% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±504 | 54,346 | Top 1% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$38 | $1,138 | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$6,335 | $343,400 | Top 23% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 18.5% | Top 50% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 6.2% | Bottom 34% | 2024 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 →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 4% since 2020, reaching 121,483 in 2024.
Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.
Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 9% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 4.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 18°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 14.3 inches, including 57.4 inches of snow.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 14.3" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 57.4" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 18°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 87°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 46°F | 1991-2020 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
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are wildfire, winter weather and earthquake.
Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, lightning, inland flooding, hail, strong wind, drought, ice storm, tornado, volcanic activity.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. 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.
- Crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
- Taxes
- No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Full cost of living
- No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. 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.
Access
2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 1 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billings Logan Intl | BIL | 1 mi | 10,518 ft |
| Yellowstone Rgnl | COD | 91 mi | 8,268 ft |
| Sheridan County | SHR | 104 mi | 8,301 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.
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school year | Directory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them |
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.