Jefferson County, MT

County Profile

12,774 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Jefferson 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.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 35% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 2% of 1,463 counties measured86
Growth791st of 1,453 counties measured47
Housing affordabilityTop 19% of 1,462 counties measured81
Climate1,442nd of 1,463 counties measured47
Physical resilience1,162nd of 1,463 counties measured34
AccessTop 29% of 1,463 counties measured89
Economic stabilityTop 16% of 1,463 counties measured84
The quick read

Jefferson County ranks in the top 2% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.5% and median household income of $95,490.

Residential permitting has slowed: 15 units authorized over the past twelve months, 25% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 20% of renter income and the median home is 4.2 times what its owners earn.

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
12,774
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$95,490
Top 7% nationally
Density
8/sq mi
1,657 sq mi of land
Median age
47.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Jefferson County
Montana
Metro area
Nearest major airport
BTM
24 mi · Bert Mooney
Median home value
$446,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.5%, lower than in 97% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 6,201 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $95,490 is higher than in 93% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$80,81583rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$62,06361st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$18,4782024 ACS 5-Year$95,490Top 7%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,8742024 ACS 5-Year$49,303Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$64,809Top 26%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.8%Top 3%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.6 minTop 50%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year32.2%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year74.6%31st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 20266,201Bottom 5%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.6%Top 21%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 20266,3635th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.6%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 45%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.5%Top 3%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year12.7%79th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.32.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.5% 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

202120222023202495k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $95,490 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 — Helena, MT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Business Operations Specialists, All Other1,420$80,410
Retail Salespersons1,130$35,990
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,060$28,330
Office Clerks, General1,010$46,450
Registered Nurses990$98,690
Home Health and Personal Care Aides960$36,570

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.

47% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 54% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.6 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
46.7%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
53.5%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Montana City SchoolMontana City Elem31315.752%57%
Jefferson High SchoolJefferson H S30616.122%27%
Clancy SchoolClancy Elem28515.062%67%
Whitehall ElementaryWhitehall Elem19211.352%52%
Boulder Elementary SchoolBoulder Elem16618.455%55%
Whitehall High SchoolWhitehall H S16120.130%50%
Montana City Middle SchlMontana City Elem15814.447%57%
Whitehall 6-8Whitehall Elem11012.252%57%
Clancy 7-8Clancy Elem8912.767%82%
Boulder 7-8Boulder Elem4912.347%52%
Cardwell SchoolCardwell Elem358.830%70%
Basin SchoolBasin Elem88.0——

28.0% 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 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.1, 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 Helena, MT Metro Area is up 46% over five years, but down 1.2% 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 $2,446 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.55% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,404, some 52% above the $925 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,404 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $56,200 a year, about 59% of the median household income here of $95,490.

The typical renter household here spends 20% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $925 a month.

A median home at $446,900 costs 4.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $105,400, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
92.1

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Helena, 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
20.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,404
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$925
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$446,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Jefferson County’s median household income of $95,490, 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 Helena, MT Metro Area’s figure202392.1Top 35%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Helena, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−1.2%2nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Helena, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+45.7%56th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Helena, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+113.9%82nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year4.2Bottom 9%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.2%95th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±272024 ACS 5-Year5,40725th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,070Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,946Bottom 25%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,404Bottom 29%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$582024 ACS 5-Year$925Bottom 41%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$22,3712024 ACS 5-Year$446,90094th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1722024 ACS 5-Year$2,44675th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$8,7552024 ACS 5-Year$105,400Top 10%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.55%22nd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year20.4%Top 7%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±782024 ACS 5-Year17432nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.2%54th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.4%10th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1362024 ACS 5-Year4119th 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

47/ 100
Ranks 791 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 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 grown 10% since 2020, reaching 13,304 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 13,304 residents in 2024, up 1.7% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 15 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Jefferson County gained about 2.0% 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 $80,815, above the $62,063 of households that moved out.

At 1.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
15
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.2
Bottom 22% nationally
Year over year
−25%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202413k12k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+2.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$80,815
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$62,063
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Lewis and Clark County, MT 261 people · 28% of arrivals
  2. Gallatin County, MT 125 people · 13% of arrivals
  3. Silver Bow County, MT 51 people · 5.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Lewis and Clark County, MT 226 people · 32% of departures
  2. Gallatin County, MT 70 people · 9.8% of departures
  3. Silver Bow County, MT 53 people · 7.4% 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

2022202320242025249.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+20%).

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, 23.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals12.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals8°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals31991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

34 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 45% of it.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingElevated
AvalancheModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

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.

Jefferson County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Drug overdose deaths run at 0.0 per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
0.0
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 Jefferson 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Bert Mooney at 24 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year91.4%Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle24 miTop 33%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%Top 11%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bert MooneyBTM24 mi9,000 ft
Helena RgnlHLN34 mi9,000 ft
Bozeman Yellowstone IntlBZN50 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
63
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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.

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.