Cascade County, MT

County Profile

84,606 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cascade County, MT.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 34% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 36% of 1,463 counties measured61
Growth923rd of 1,453 counties measured43
Housing affordabilityTop 40% of 1,462 counties measured76
Climate1,299th of 1,463 counties measured56
Physical resilienceTop 34% of 1,463 counties measured71
AccessTop 18% of 1,463 counties measured94
Economic stabilityTop 50% of 1,463 counties measured61
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.0% and median household income $67,690, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.3 times what its owners earn.

Great Falls Intl is 11 miles away, closer than 89% of measured US counties.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
84,606
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,690
Top 42% nationally
Density
31/sq mi
2,698.2 sq mi of land
Median age
38.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Cascade County
Montana
Metro area
Nearest major airport
GTF
11 mi · Great Falls Intl
Median home value
$265,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.0%, lower than in 90% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 37,237 employed residents.

28% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$60,47255th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$59,00854th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,7962024 ACS 5-Year$67,690Top 42%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5872024 ACS 5-Year$38,795Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$60,281Top 36%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.0 minTop 8%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.4%Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year77.4%49th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202637,237Top 48%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.6%Bottom 20%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.8%Bottom 45%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202638,39152nd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year78.8%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.0%Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%39th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.32.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.0% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202468k56k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,690 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Great Falls, MT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,340$28,200
Retail Salespersons1,130$35,000
Home Health and Personal Care Aides990$34,540
Registered Nurses880$78,290
Stockers and Order Fillers790$36,760
Cashiers760$31,320

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

42% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.8 students for every full-time teacher across 41 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
43
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.8
across 41 of them
Math proficiency
42.5%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
50.7%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 43 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Great Falls High SchoolGreat Falls H S1,54815.229%39%
C M Russell High SchoolGreat Falls H S1,41216.438%46%
North Middle SchoolGreat Falls Elem76415.045%54%
East Middle SchoolGreat Falls Elem76413.635%48%
Meadow Lark SchoolGreat Falls Elem52720.376%81%
Riverview SchoolGreat Falls Elem44521.262%64%
Giant Springs ElementaryGreat Falls Elem43114.929%38%
West ElementaryGreat Falls Elem42114.027%39%
Sacajawea SchoolGreat Falls Elem40518.456%65%
Sunnyside SchoolGreat Falls Elem39615.851%50%
Loy SchoolGreat Falls Elem39217.852%67%
Lincoln SchoolGreat Falls Elem37316.248%58%

53.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Montana’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 93.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Great Falls, MT Metro Area is up 55% over five years, and up 6.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,320 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.87% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,284, some 37% above the $939 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,284 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $51,400 a year, about 76% of the median household income here of $67,690.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $939 a month.

A median home at $265,300 costs 3.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $80,811, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
93.4

Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Great Falls, MT Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,284
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$939
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$265,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Cascade County’s median household income of $67,690, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Great Falls, MT Metro Area’s figure202393.4Top 46%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Great Falls, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.0%88th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Great Falls, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+54.5%86th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Great Falls, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+98.4%56th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.3Bottom 22%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year68.5%24th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±672024 ACS 5-Year39,49779th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$979Bottom 48%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,786Bottom 31%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,284Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$282024 ACS 5-Year$939Bottom 38%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,9502024 ACS 5-Year$265,30075th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$452024 ACS 5-Year$2,32073rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,6072024 ACS 5-Year$80,811Top 40%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.87%56th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.3%Top 45%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2092024 ACS 5-Year1,16977th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.0%52nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%32nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4012024 ACS 5-Year3,88274th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

43/ 100
Ranks 923 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 84,523 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Cascade County lost about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $60,472, close to the $59,008 of households that moved out.

At 3.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
250
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.0
Top 48% nationally
Year over year
+29%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
30.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202485k84k
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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
69%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$60,472
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,008
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Lewis and Clark County, MT 167 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  2. Gallatin County, MT 150 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  3. Missoula County, MT 150 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  4. Teton County, MT 113 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  5. Yellowstone County, MT 106 people · 2.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Lewis and Clark County, MT 139 people · 3.1% of departures
  2. Yellowstone County, MT 135 people · 3.0% of departures
  3. Missoula County, MT 125 people · 2.8% of departures
  4. Gallatin County, MT 106 people · 2.4% of departures
  5. Teton County, MT 95 people · 2.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025543151
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+68%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 14.8 inches, including 66.1 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GREAT FALLS INTL AP, 10.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals14.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals66.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

71 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and winter weather, with inland flooding alone responsible for 46% of it. Winter weather is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Cold waveModerate
WildfireModerate
Inland floodingElevated
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, avalanche, lightning, strong wind, hail, drought, ice storm, tornado, tsunami, volcanic activity, hurricane, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Cascade County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.3 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 22.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.4 per 100,000 residents in Cascade County.

Homicide
4.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
22.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
22.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
37.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Cascade County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Great Falls Intl at 11 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year89.2%Top 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle11 miTop 11%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.3%Top 34%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Great Falls IntlGTF11 mi10,502 ft
Helena RgnlHLN57 mi9,000 ft
Bozeman Yellowstone IntlBZN107 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.

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Area Score
64
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Cascade County, MT

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.