Safest Places to Live in Montana of September 2026
Montana is located in the northwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Canadian provinces British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewa. It has many nicknames, such as Big Sky Country, The Treasure State, Land of the Shining Mountains, and The Last Best Place.
Montana is the fourth largest state by area. Montana’s capital is Helena, while the largest city is Billings, which has approximately 110,000 residents.
Montana has numerous mountain ranges, some of which are a part of the Rocky Mountains. However, you can also find a lot of prairie and badlands in this state. Montana’s economy relies on agriculture (ranching and farming), oil, gas, coal and hard rock mining, lumber, and tourism. Montana is well known for its Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, and the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
Ranking Criteria
ElitePersonalFinance extracted the latest data from the FBI crime statistics in the United States. We took violent crime as the main criteria. To get our score, we used this formula:
Crime Score = ( Total Number of Violent Crimes / Population ) * 1,000
This way, safer cities got the lowest score, and those more vulnerable to crimes got higher scores.
The cities that did not report crimes to the FBI and those under 1,000 residents were not included in the list.
20 Safest Places in Montana of September 2026
| Rank: | City: | Population: | Total Number of Crimes: | Crime Score: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank:1 | City:Colstrip | Population:2 271 | Total Number of Crimes:2 | Crime Score:0,88 |
| Rank:2 | City:Eureka | Population:1 125 | Total Number of Crimes:1 | Crime Score:0,89 |
| Rank:3 | City:Glendive | Population:4 964 | Total Number of Crimes:5 | Crime Score:1,01 |
| Rank:4 | City:Libby | Population:2 750 | Total Number of Crimes:4 | Crime Score:1,45 |
| Rank:5 | City:Baker | Population:1 928 | Total Number of Crimes:3 | Crime Score:1,56 |
| Rank:6 | City:Boulder | Population:1 278 | Total Number of Crimes:2 | Crime Score:1,56 |
| Rank:7 | City:Dillon | Population:4 276 | Total Number of Crimes:8 | Crime Score:1,87 |
| Rank:8 | City:Columbia Falls | Population:5 695 | Total Number of Crimes:11 | Crime Score:1,93 |
| Rank:9 | City:Red Lodge | Population:2 316 | Total Number of Crimes:5 | Crime Score:2,16 |
| Rank:10 | City:Deer Lodge | Population:2 888 | Total Number of Crimes:7 | Crime Score:2,42 |
| Rank:11 | City:Miles City | Population:8 393 | Total Number of Crimes:22 | Crime Score:2,62 |
| Rank:12 | City:Ennis | Population:1 019 | Total Number of Crimes:3 | Crime Score:2,94 |
| Rank:13 | City:Hamilton | Population:4 879 | Total Number of Crimes:18 | Crime Score:3,69 |
| Rank:14 | City:Manhattan | Population:1 865 | Total Number of Crimes:7 | Crime Score:3,75 |
| Rank:15 | City:Belgrade | Population:9 204 | Total Number of Crimes:35 | Crime Score:3,80 |
| Rank:16 | City:Missoula | Population:75 422 | Total Number of Crimes:310 | Crime Score:4,11 |
| Rank:17 | City:Laurel | Population:6 768 | Total Number of Crimes:28 | Crime Score:4,14 |
| Rank:18 | City:Kalispell | Population:24 473 | Total Number of Crimes:102 | Crime Score:4,17 |
| Rank:19 | City:Glasgow | Population:3 334 | Total Number of Crimes:14 | Crime Score:4,20 |
| Rank:20 | City:Stevensville | Population:2 051 | Total Number of Crimes:9 | Crime Score:4,39 |
Crime Score in All Cities in Montana of September 2026
If your city didn’t make our list, you could see our full list of Montana cities.
We can’t compare crime rates in small and large cities. That’s why ElitePersonalFinance made a detailed analysis and narrowed the results according to population segments:
- Under 3,000 Residents
- 3,000 – 10,000 Residents
- Over 10,000 Residents
(Other sites don’t include places with under 3,000 residents, but we included them.)
These are the results that we got:
Under 3,000 Residents
| Rank: | City: | Population: | Total Number of Crimes: | Crime Score: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank:1 | City:Hot Springs | Population:570 | Total Number of Crimes:0 | Crime Score:0,00 |
| Rank:2 | City:Bridger | Population:760 | Total Number of Crimes:0 | Crime Score:0,00 |
| Rank:3 | City:Colstrip | Population:2 271 | Total Number of Crimes:2 | Crime Score:0,88 |
| Rank:4 | City:Eureka | Population:1 125 | Total Number of Crimes:1 | Crime Score:0,89 |
| Rank:5 | City:Troy | Population:936 | Total Number of Crimes:1 | Crime Score:1,07 |
| Rank:6 | City:Libby | Population:2 750 | Total Number of Crimes:4 | Crime Score:1,45 |
| Rank:7 | City:Baker | Population:1 928 | Total Number of Crimes:3 | Crime Score:1,56 |
| Rank:8 | City:Boulder | Population:1 278 | Total Number of Crimes:2 | Crime Score:1,56 |
| Rank:9 | City:Red Lodge | Population:2 316 | Total Number of Crimes:5 | Crime Score:2,16 |
| Rank:10 | City:Deer Lodge | Population:2 888 | Total Number of Crimes:7 | Crime Score:2,42 |
| Rank:11 | City:Ennis | Population:1 019 | Total Number of Crimes:3 | Crime Score:2,94 |
| Rank:12 | City:Manhattan | Population:1 865 | Total Number of Crimes:7 | Crime Score:3,75 |
| Rank:13 | City:Stevensville | Population:2 051 | Total Number of Crimes:9 | Crime Score:4,39 |
| Rank:14 | City:East Helena | Population:2 098 | Total Number of Crimes:11 | Crime Score:5,24 |
| Rank:15 | City:West Yellowstone | Population:1 396 | Total Number of Crimes:8 | Crime Score:5,73 |
| Rank:16 | City:Ronan City | Population:2 113 | Total Number of Crimes:19 | Crime Score:8,99 |
| Rank:17 | City:Wolf Point | Population:2 761 | Total Number of Crimes:26 | Crime Score:9,42 |
3,000 – 10,000 Residents
| Rank: | City: | Population: | Total Number of Crimes: | Crime Score: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank:1 | City:Glendive | Population:4 964 | Total Number of Crimes:5 | Crime Score:1,01 |
| Rank:2 | City:Dillon | Population:4 276 | Total Number of Crimes:8 | Crime Score:1,87 |
| Rank:3 | City:Columbia Falls | Population:5 695 | Total Number of Crimes:11 | Crime Score:1,93 |
| Rank:4 | City:Miles City | Population:8 393 | Total Number of Crimes:22 | Crime Score:2,62 |
| Rank:5 | City:Hamilton | Population:4 879 | Total Number of Crimes:18 | Crime Score:3,69 |
| Rank:6 | City:Belgrade | Population:9 204 | Total Number of Crimes:35 | Crime Score:3,80 |
| Rank:7 | City:Laurel | Population:6 768 | Total Number of Crimes:28 | Crime Score:4,14 |
| Rank:8 | City:Glasgow | Population:3 334 | Total Number of Crimes:14 | Crime Score:4,20 |
| Rank:9 | City:Sidney | Population:6 376 | Total Number of Crimes:30 | Crime Score:4,71 |
| Rank:10 | City:Polson | Population:5 075 | Total Number of Crimes:26 | Crime Score:5,12 |
| Rank:11 | City:Cut Bank | Population:3 038 | Total Number of Crimes:36 | Crime Score:11,85 |
Over 10,000 Residents
| Rank: | City: | Population: | Total Number of Crimes: | Crime Score: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank:1 | City:Missoula | Population:75 422 | Total Number of Crimes:310 | Crime Score:4,11 |
| Rank:2 | City:Kalispell | Population:24 473 | Total Number of Crimes:102 | Crime Score:4,17 |
| Rank:3 | City:Great Falls | Population:58 637 | Total Number of Crimes:302 | Crime Score:5,15 |
| Rank:4 | City:Helena | Population:32 806 | Total Number of Crimes:190 | Crime Score:5,79 |
Is your city safe enough? Are you worried because of the crime rate in your town? Do you have any thoughts on safety levels in the country? How safe do you feel?
If you want to share anything, feel free to leave a comment. That way, you can help us understand your perspective better.
Thank you!
Archives
- Safest Places to Live in Montana 2020
- Safest Places to Live in Montana 2019
- Safest Places to Live in Montana 2018
- Safest Places to Live in Montana 2017
- Safest Places to Live in Montana 2016
Sources:
