Missoula County, MT

County Profile

120,672 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Missoula 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.

71out of 100
Area Score
Top 12% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 8% of 1,463 counties measured80
GrowthTop 16% of 1,453 counties measured69
Housing affordability1,313th of 1,462 counties measured55
Climate1,236th of 1,463 counties measured58
Physical resilienceTop 35% of 1,463 counties measured70
AccessTop 8% of 1,463 counties measured97
Economic stabilityTop 11% of 1,463 counties measured88
The quick read

Missoula County ranks in the top 8% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.7% and median household income of $75,598.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 874 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 19% on the prior year.

Housing sits below most counties measured for affordability: rent takes 29% of renter income and the median home is 4.7 times what its owners earn — each just short of the thresholds that would count as strained, but both toward the costly end.

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
120,672
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,598
Top 25% nationally
Density
47/sq mi
2,593 sq mi of land
Median age
37.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Missoula County
Montana
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MSO
12 mi · Missoula Montana
Median home value
$472,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.7%, lower than in 95% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 70,002 employed residents.

47% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 96% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$62,07259th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$58,89154th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,9222024 ACS 5-Year$75,598Top 25%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6462024 ACS 5-Year$45,868Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$70,381Top 17%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%Top 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.5 minTop 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year47.4%Top 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.1%12th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202670,002Top 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.4%Top 45%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202671,91369th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year84.9%Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%88th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.7%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year14.6%86th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.42.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.7% 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

202120222023202476k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,598 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 — Missoula, MT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,160$30,510
Retail Salespersons1,990$35,430
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,950$38,050
General and Operations Managers1,690$81,120
Cashiers1,630$35,610
Registered Nurses1,570$82,160

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.

45% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher across 42 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
43
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across 42 of them
Math proficiency
44.9%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
55.5%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 43 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sentinel High SchoolMissoula H S1,36516.640%64%
Hellgate High SchoolMissoula H S1,26214.542%53%
Big Sky High SchoolMissoula H S1,14815.132%39%
Washington Middle SchoolMissoula Elem66916.756%63%
Porter Middle SchoolMissoula Elem57915.639%58%
Hellgate El IntermediateHellgate Elem51719.155%60%
Jeannette Rankin ElMissoula Elem45718.371%71%
Lewis & Clark SchoolMissoula Elem42915.353%67%
Hawthorne SchoolMissoula Elem41714.472%67%
Frenchtown Elementary SchoolFrenchtown K-12 Schools41512.647%42%
Paxson SchoolMissoula Elem41516.659%64%
Chief Charlo SchoolMissoula Elem41415.947%56%

40.7% 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 6% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 93.9, 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 Missoula, MT Metro Area is up 46% over five years, and up 0.4% 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 $4,150 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.88% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,655, some 39% above the $1,190 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,655 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $66,200 a year, about 88% of the median household income here of $75,598.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,190 a month.

A median home at $472,100 costs 4.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $100,216, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
93.9

Prices here run about 6% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Missoula, 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
29.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,655
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,190
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$472,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Missoula County’s median household income of $75,598, 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 Missoula, MT Metro Area’s figure202393.9Top 48%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Missoula, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.4%7th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Missoula, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+45.9%57th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Missoula, MT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+124.6%93rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year4.7Bottom 5%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year58.8%6th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±652024 ACS 5-Year56,93084th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,400Bottom 18%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,302Bottom 12%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,655Bottom 20%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$322024 ACS 5-Year$1,190Bottom 17%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,7112024 ACS 5-Year$472,10095th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$962024 ACS 5-Year$4,15094th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,8992024 ACS 5-Year$100,216Top 13%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.88%56th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year29.3%Bottom 34%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3152024 ACS 5-Year1,64482nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.9%52nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%12th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6132024 ACS 5-Year4,25176th 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

69/ 100
Top 16% 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 grown 4% since 2020, reaching 122,546 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Missoula County gained about 0.4% 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 $62,072, above the $58,891 of households that moved out.

At 7.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
874
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.2
Top 15% nationally
Year over year
+19%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
55.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024123k118k
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
+0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
64%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$62,072
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$58,891
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Ravalli County, MT 464 people · 7.8% of arrivals
  2. Flathead County, MT 233 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  3. Gallatin County, MT 205 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  4. Lewis and Clark County, MT 203 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  5. Lake County, MT 184 people · 3.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Ravalli County, MT 576 people · 10% of departures
  2. Lake County, MT 245 people · 4.4% of departures
  3. Flathead County, MT 232 people · 4.2% of departures
  4. Lewis and Clark County, MT 179 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Gallatin County, MT 175 people · 3.2% 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

2020202120222023202420252k656
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+12%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 14.1 inches, including 43.0 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MISSOULA INTL AP, 12.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year682024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals14.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals43.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
68
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

70 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 34% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

WildfireHigh
AvalancheElevated
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate

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

Missoula County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.1 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 23.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 9.0 per 100,000 residents in Missoula County.

Homicide
3.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
23.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
9.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
29.5
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 Missoula 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.
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 Missoula Montana at 12 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year93.0%Top 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle12 miTop 12%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year4.8%Top 9%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Missoula MontanaMSO12 mi9,501 ft
Glacier Park IntlGPI90 mi9,007 ft
Helena RgnlHLN95 mi9,000 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
71
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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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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 Missoula 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.