Missoula has a population of 72,364, making it both Montana's second largest city and the 494th largest US city. Missoula has an average monthly rent of $852 which is substantially below the national average rent. The cost of living in Missoula is substantially lower than the national average.
Known as the "Garden City" for its dense trees and lush green landscape, Missoula is nestled in the heart of the northern Rockies where five valleys converge. Missoula is a center for education, medicine, retail and the arts.
This week, Matador Network came out with their list of the 20 coolest towns in America.
A lot of people in Missoula are nice, but most of the rich people are absolutely snobby a-holes, and the rich people are pushing out everyone else. As others have said, lots of homelessness and meth. Homelessness is about to get a lot worse with rising housing costs. It's just getting more expensive overall.
Winter in MontanaVisiting Montana in winter means you need to be prepared for cold temperatures, snow and ice. Essentials for winter include snow boots, a winter coat/down jacket, snow pants, wool socks, sweaters, puffy vests, beanies, scarves, gloves, chapstick, sunglasses, lotion and SPF.
Period of Record : 04/08/1892 to 06/09/2016
| Jan | Annual |
|---|
| Average Max. Temperature (F) | 31.7 | 55.2 |
| Average Min. Temperature (F) | 12.0 | 31.2 |
| Average Total Precipitation (in.) | 0.87 | 18.48 |
| Average Total SnowFall (in.) | 12.6 | 86.0 |
Bozeman is the sunniest city in Montana, averaging over 300 sunny days per year. Bozeman's average annual precipitation is 16.23 inches.
If you're curious, here are the places that get the least amount of snow in Montana with at least snow snowfall: Glendive -- 20.1 inches. Miles City -- 30.4 inches. Sidney -- 32.5 inches.
Coldest U.S. States
- Alaska. Alaska is the coldest state in the U.S. Alaska's average temperature is 26.6°F and can go as low as -30°F during the winter months.
- North Dakota.
- Maine.
- Minnesota.
- Wyoming.
- Montana.
- Vermont.
- Wisconsin.
Detailed List Of The Snowiest Places In Montana
| Rank | City | Snow (Inches) |
|---|
| 1 | Evergreen | 74.1 |
| 2 | Lewistown | 73.3 |
| 3 | Bozeman | 71.8 |
| 4 | Whitefish | 65.6 |
The Montana housing market has been booming since the pandemic began last year. So now, with so many people moving back to Montana and moving to Montana, along with our regular buyers, who are moving around within the market, there's just a lot of buyers and not that many homes," she said.
Most of the United State has four seasons of the year. The common jokes in Montana are we have 10 months of winter and two months of soggy sledding. Or another popular one is Montana has ten months of winter and two months of construction.
The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) data shows the mean temperature from 1971-2000 for Montana was 5.97°C (42.74°F) and Wyoming's was 5.54°C (41.98°F). Montana is at a higher latitude, so this is surprising.
Snowiest States
- Vermont. Vermont receives more snow per year than any other state with an average of 89.25 inches.
- Maine. Maine is the third-coldest state and the second-snowiest state in the United States.
- New Hampshire.
- Colorado.
- Alaska.
- Michigan.
- New York.
- Massachusetts.
Top 15 states with the most extreme weather
- California. Extreme weather score: 73.1.
- Minnesota. Extreme weather score: 68.6.
- Illinois. Extreme weather score: 67.8.
- Colorado. Extreme weather score: 67.0.
- South Dakota. Extreme weather score: 64.5.
- Kansas. Extreme weather score: 63.7.
- Washington. Extreme weather score: 59.2.
- Oklahoma.
Montana's largest city, Billings, is also its least safe, earning a Safety Index score of -0.97 due to a violent crime rate of 4.93 per 1,000 and property crime rate of 54.58 per 1,000.
Safest Cities in Montana, 2019.
| Rank | City | Safety Index |
|---|
| 1 | Kalispell | -0.17 |
| 2 | Bozeman | -0.17 |
| 3 | Great Falls | -0.6 |
| 4 | Missoula | -0.74 |
Winter sees some extremes in Montana weather. During the winter, it is very common for the areas east of the Continental Divide to be in the deep-freeze of below zero temperatures while over in Missoula and Kalispell the temperature can be fifty degrees warmer and without a wind chill to boot.
Montana Is Full of Great Places to LiveAlthough far down the list of most populous states, Montana has two cities ranked among Livability's 2018 Top 100 Best Places to Live. The college towns of Bozeman, home of Montana State University, is ranked No. 96; and Missoula, home to the University of Montana is ranked 59.
Montana typically sees several tornadoes every year in the spring, particularly in the eastern part of the state. Unlike those in "Tornado Alley" in the central part of the country, most Montana tornadoes are relatively small and usually touch down in sparsely-populated areas – but not always.
In Billings, the summers are short, hot, and mostly clear; the winters are freezing, windy, and partly cloudy; and it is dry year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 20°F to 90°F and is rarely below -2°F or above 98°F.
