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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-BRIDGER-MT · Bridger, MT 850 pop · income 5th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Bridger
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bridger on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bridger · this city · lowest
35,893
Bridger · this city · lowest
35,893 median HH income
19.3% of the leader · rank #1
Cypress Quart… · near
35,893
Cypress Quart… · near
35,893 median HH income
19.3% of the leader · rank #2
Summerton · near
35,893
Summerton · near
35,893 median HH income
19.3% of the leader · rank #3
Ware Shoals · near
35,896
Ware Shoals · near
35,896 median HH income
19.3% of the leader · rank #4
Adel · near
35,897
Adel · near
35,897 median HH income
19.3% of the leader · rank #5
Floyd Hill · highest
186,420
Floyd Hill · highest
186,420 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bridger on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 850.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Bridger - the verdict
Bridger ranks in the 5th percentile for household income and the 97th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
5th
percentile, household income
52nd
percentile, home value
61st
percentile, median rent
97th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Bridger, MT
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 850 residents in Bridger, a small town within Montana. The typical household in Bridger brings in $35,893 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Bridger's housing stock carries a median value of $232,900, and the median resident age is 40.6 years. Educational attainment runs 10.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 57.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 0 residential units were authorized in 2024 (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier. Bridger reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 136.6 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 45.7°F with 11.5 inches of precipitation per year and 30.3 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Montana run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Montana scores 94.6 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,336 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $175 across Montana, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 33.3 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bridger's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from reported crime to population change to work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households to climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bridger, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What can the FBI record say about safety in Bridger?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 136.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 94% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +45 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
What does the journey to work look like in Bridger?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Which cities make useful reference points for Bridger?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Montana, the closest population matches are Pinesdale (847 residents, $70,694 income); Big Sandy (844 residents, $58,083 income); Trego (856 residents, $91,667 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Floyd Hill, CO (850 residents); Anna Maria, FL (850 residents); Winslow, IN (850 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Bridger?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
6.5×
Home value
$232,900
Household income
$35,893
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 10.6% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
5.5%
Bachelor's degree+
10.6%
Matched public schools
3
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 45.7°F, with 11.5 inches of precipitation and 30.3 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Montana is 33.3 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
33.3
Annual precipitation
11.5 in
Mean temperature
45.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 5.5% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
D
City profile score · Bridger, MT
46/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Violent crime A+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living B-
94.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate C+
5.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$35,893
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bridger profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Cost of living: 66/100 (B-) · 94.6 index
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 8/100 (F) · 10.6%
Household income: 1/100 (F) · $35,893
Where Bridger sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Bridger's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Bridger highlighted among 21 peers.Read the chart values
Bridger, MT (this city): home $232,900, crime 137/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Bridger compare to other US cities?
Here's how Bridger stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income5% higher than other cities
Home value52% pricier than other cities
Median rent61% pricier than other cities
Safety97% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Montana alone, Bridger ranks #2 of 39 Montana cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bridger against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Montana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Montana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bridger near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bridger ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bridger only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#260 of 282
8th percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#135 of 279
52nd percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#172 of 315
44th percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#274 of 317
13th percentile in Montana
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Montana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
5th percentile nationally for median household income · 97th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Bridger's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Bridger's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Bridger's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$232,90048th percentilemore affordable than 48% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Bridger's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,434 of 15,516
More affordable than 7% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,667 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.5×, Bridger sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,434 of 15,516 and #10,667 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$35,893Bridger, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bridger, MT median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bridger, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
850
Median Income
$35,893
Median Home Value
$232,900
Median Age
40.6
Poverty Rate
5.5%
Labor force participation
57.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
136.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
136.6
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
45.7°F
Annual Precipitation
11.5"
Annual Snowfall
30.3"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bridger's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
664 residents
2021
688 residents
2022
706 residents
2023
714 residents
2024
716 residents
2025
709 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.2M
2020
1
1
0
$0.2M
2021
1
1
0
$0.2M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
1
1
0
$0.2M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.3%
Carpool
13.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
5.2%
Work from Home
4.7%
Based on 401 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Montana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $175
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Montana at $175 (electricity about $80 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are Montana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bridger. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Montana's BEA cost-of-living index is 94.6 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bridger is $1,336/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Montana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Montana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bridger sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bridger compares to similar-size Montana cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.