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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-DARBY-MT · Darby, MT 575 pop · income 9th 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 Darby
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Darby on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hot Springs · lowest
21,319
Hot Springs · lowest
21,319 median HH income
20.5% of the leader · rank #1
Longton · near
40,938
Longton · near
40,938 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #2
Elmore · near
40,938
Elmore · near
40,938 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #3
Gamerco · near
40,938
Gamerco · near
40,938 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #4
Russells Point · near
40,938
Russells Point · near
40,938 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #5
Darby · this city
40,943
Darby · this city
40,943 median HH income
39.5% of the leader · rank #6
Culbertson · highest
103,750
Culbertson · highest
103,750 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 Darby 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: 575.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Darby lands in the 9th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
9th
percentile, household income
58th
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: Darby, MT
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 575 residents in Darby, a small town within Montana. The typical household in Darby brings in $40,943 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Darby's housing stock carries a median value of $263,200, and the median resident age is 53.5 years. About 11.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 54.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 4 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier. The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 44.6°F with 15.1 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Montana run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Montana at 94.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,336 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Montana run around $175, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 33.3 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Darby'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 comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to population change to schools and households to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Darby, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Darby?
Within Montana, the closest population matches are Culbertson (578 residents, $103,750 income); Alberton (567 residents, $71,250 income); Hot Springs (558 residents, $21,319 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are College, CA (575 residents); Iron Horse, CA (575 residents); Kingman, IN (575 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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 44.6°F, with 15.1 inches of precipitation. 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.
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.
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +93 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 4 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 11.7% 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Darby?
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 76.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.3%
Work from home
9.1%
Drive alone
76.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 287 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Darby?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.4 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. 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.
Household income
$40,943
Home value
$263,200
Value / income
6.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
D
City profile score · Darby, MT
46/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
11.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$40,943
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Darby 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
Bachelor's+ share: 11/100 (F) · 11.7%
Household income: 8/100 (F) · $40,943
How does Darby compare to other US cities?
Here's how Darby stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income9% higher than other cities
Home value58% 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 Darby 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 Darby near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Darby ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Darby only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#244 of 282
13th percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#115 of 279
59th percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#230 of 315
0th percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#264 of 317
16th 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
9th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Darby's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$263,20042nd percentilemore affordable than 42% 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
Darby's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,403 of 15,516
More affordable than 7% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,645 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.4×, Darby sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,403 of 15,516 and #10,645 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
$40,943Darby, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Darby, 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 Darby, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
575
Median Income
$40,943
Median Home Value
$263,200
Median Age
53.5
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
54.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.7%
Climate
Avg Temperature
44.6°F
Annual Precipitation
15.1"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
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
Darby's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
795 residents
2021
833 residents
2022
853 residents
2023
861 residents
2024
871 residents
2025
888 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
4
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4
4
0
$0.4M
2020
5
5
0
$0.5M
2021
2
2
0
$0.3M
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
1
1
0
$0.3M
2024
4
0
4
$0.6M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.3%
Carpool
8.7%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
5.6%
Work from Home
9.1%
Based on 287 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 Darby. 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 Darby 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 Darby sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Darby 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, 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.