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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-CUSTER-MT · Custer, MT 155 pop · income 49th 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 Custer
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Custer on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Fulton · lowest
36,250
Fulton · lowest
36,250 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #1
Custer · this city
70,000
Custer · this city
70,000 median HH income
66.6% of the leader · rank #2
Steele · near
70,000
Steele · near
70,000 median HH income
66.6% of the leader · rank #3
Kasigluk · near
70,000
Kasigluk · near
70,000 median HH income
66.6% of the leader · rank #4
Crawfordsville · near
70,000
Crawfordsville · near
70,000 median HH income
66.6% of the leader · rank #5
Norman · near
70,000
Norman · near
70,000 median HH income
66.6% of the leader · rank #6
Little Bitter… · highest
105,114
Little Bitter… · highest
105,114 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Custer on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 155.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Custer places in the 49th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
49th
percentile, household income
18th
percentile, home value
61st
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Custer, MT
Custer is a small town in Montana, home to 155 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Custer households earn a median of $70,000 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Typical homes in Custer are valued around $121,700, and the median resident age is 59.5 years. Educational attainment runs 23.2% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 60.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 3 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in Montana run below the national norm: the state registers 94.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,336 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Montana run around $175, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Custer'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Custer, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Custer?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Custer?
Within Montana, the closest population matches are West Havre (155 residents, $63,819 income); Dodson (156 residents, $41,172 income); Saco (154 residents, $51,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Fairford, AL (155 residents); Vaiva Vo, AZ (155 residents); Fulton, AR (155 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.
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.
How far does income reach against housing in Custer?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 23.2% 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.
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.
Below median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
B-
City profile score · Custer, MT
65/100
4 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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better 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.
Household income D
$70,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share D
23.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Custer profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 66/100 (B-) · 94.6 index
Household income: 49/100 (D) · $70,000
Bachelor's+ share: 44/100 (D) · 23.2%
How does Custer compare to other US cities?
Here's how Custer stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income49% higher than other cities
Home value18% pricier than other cities
Median rent61% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Custer 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 Custer near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Custer ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Custer only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#100 of 282
65th percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#236 of 279
15th percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#230 of 315
0th percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#149 of 317
53rd 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
49th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Custer's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$121,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 82% 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
Custer's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#846 of 15,516
More affordable than 95% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#819 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.7×, Custer sits in the affordable band:
national rank #846 of 15,516 and #819 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$70,000Custer, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Custer, 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 Custer, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
155
Median Income
$70,000
Median Home Value
$121,700
Median Age
59.5
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
60.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.2%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.9%
Carpool
1.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
11.0%
Work from Home
4.9%
Based on 82 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 Custer. 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 Custer 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 Custer sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Custer 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, NCES CCD, 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.