The Town Files

The 11 Best Small Towns for First-Time Home Buyers in Montana

Ranked on The Town Files lifestyle rankings among 35 towns of 2,500–10,000 people in Montana. #1 is Dillon, MT.

Map of the 11 towns1234567891011
Numbers match the ranking.
The 11 Best Small Towns for First-Time Home Buyers in Montana1. Dillon100th pct2. Hardin97th pct3. Lolo94th pct4. Deer Lodge86th pct5. North Browning81st pct6. Libby79th pct7. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County78th pct8. Wolf Point74th pct9. Evergreen71st pct10. Helena Valley Southeast69th pct11. Lewistown61st pct
  1. 11Lewistown, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 61% of Montana towns

    5,952 people · Fergus County · median home $198,400 · income $48,750 · Jan low 13°F · 101 in snow

  2. 10Helena Valley Southeast, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 69% of Montana towns

    9,168 people · Lewis and Clark County · median home $331,500 · income $74,075 · Jan low 14°F · 37 in snow

  3. 9Evergreen, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 71% of Montana towns

    8,149 people · Flathead County · median home $340,800 · income $76,446 · Jan low 16°F · 54 in snow

  4. 8Wolf Point, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 74% of Montana towns

    2,517 people · Roosevelt County · median home $118,600 · income $52,868 · Jan low 6°F

  5. 7Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 78% of Montana towns

    9,421 people · Deer Lodge County · median home $231,700 · income $57,527 · Jan low 16°F · 75 in snow

  6. 6Libby, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 79% of Montana towns

    2,775 people · Lincoln County · median home $257,400 · income $34,143 · Jan low 22°F · 48 in snow

  7. 5North Browning, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 81% of Montana towns

    2,653 people · Glacier County · median home $187,500 · income $37,155 · Jan low 13°F

  8. 4Deer Lodge, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 86% of Montana towns

    2,938 people · Powell County · median home $247,600 · income $60,302 · Jan low 11°F · 75 in snow

  9. 3Lolo, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 94% of Montana towns

    4,399 people · Missoula County · median home $431,800 · income $86,065 · Jan low 18°F · 42 in snow

  10. 2Hardin, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 97% of Montana towns

    3,818 people · Big Horn County · median home $147,100 · income $60,423 · Jan low 11°F · 28 in snow

  11. 1Dillon, Montana

    Better for first-time buyers than 100% of Montana towns

    3,880 people · Beaverhead County · median home $256,700 · income $61,134 · Jan low 15°F · 11 in snow

Price vs ranking

Median home value vs ranking, Montana towns0255075100$119K$373K$628K$883K$1138KMedian home valuePercentile
Orange squares are the 11 towns on this list; green dots are other towns on The Town Files in Montana.

More Montana rankings

Same ranking, other places

Methodology. We ranked 35 towns of 2,500–10,000 people in Montana (2020 Census population; towns with 2,500+ people have pages so far). Lifestyle measures are The Town Files lifestyle rankings, built from federal demographic, school, crime and housing data (2025), shown as percentiles. Only towns better than 60% of their peers on this measure qualify, so lists can be shorter than 25. Sources: