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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-HELENA-VALLEY-SOUTHEAST-MT · Helena Valley Southeast, MT 9,533 pop · income 41st pct · 2 tracts
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 Helena Valley Southeast
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Helena Valley Southeast on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Anaconda-Deer… · lowest
49,533
Anaconda-Deer… · lowest
49,533 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #1
Helena Valley… · this city
63,824
Helena Valley… · this city
63,824 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #2
Cashmere · near
63,825
Cashmere · near
63,825 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #3
Carleton · near
63,826
Carleton · near
63,826 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #4
St. Benedict · near
63,828
St. Benedict · near
63,828 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #5
Pompano Beach · near
63,832
Pompano Beach · near
63,832 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #6
Belmont · highest
232,879
Belmont · highest
232,879 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 Helena Valley Southeast 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: 9,533.
Nationally, Helena Valley Southeast sits in the 41st percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
41st
percentile, household income
66th
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: Helena Valley Southeast, MT
Montana's Helena Valley Southeast is a small town, with 9,533 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Helena Valley Southeast brings in $63,824 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.0%. Helena Valley Southeast's housing stock carries a median value of $308,000, and the median resident age is 38.2 years. About 21.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 62.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,336 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $175 across Montana, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Helena Valley Southeast'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 housing and income to within-city variation to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Helena Valley Southeast, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Helena Valley Southeast?
Within Montana, the closest population matches are Anaconda-Deer Lodge County (9,512 residents, $49,533 income); Havre (9,333 residents, $58,000 income); Evergreen (8,908 residents, $73,015 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mechanicsburg, PA (9,535 residents); Grinnell, IA (9,527 residents); Itasca, IL (9,525 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 Helena Valley Southeast?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.0%, 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.
What can 2 Census tracts reveal inside Helena Valley Southeast?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
What does the journey to work look like in Helena Valley Southeast?
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 75.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Below median income · poverty 7.0% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
C-
City profile score · Helena Valley Southeast, MT
50/100
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.
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-
7.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$63,824
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
21.7%
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).
Helena Valley Southeast profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 66/100 (B-) · 94.6 index
Poverty rate: 53/100 (C-) · 7.0%
Household income: 40/100 (D) · $63,824
Bachelor's+ share: 39/100 (F) · 21.7%
How does Helena Valley Southeast compare to other US cities?
Helena Valley Southeast measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income41% higher than other cities
Home value66% 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 Helena Valley Southeast 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 Helena Valley Southeast near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Helena Valley Southeast ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Helena Valley Southeast only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#127 of 282
55th percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#94 of 279
66th percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#151 of 315
52nd percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#162 of 317
48th 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
41st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Helena Valley Southeast's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$308,00034th percentilemore affordable than 34% 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
Helena Valley Southeast's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,593 of 15,516
More affordable than 19% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,573 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.8×, Helena Valley Southeast sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,593 of 15,516 and #9,573 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$63,824Helena Valley Southeast, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Helena Valley Southeast, 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 Helena Valley Southeast, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)21.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
9,533
Median Income
$63,824
Median Home Value
$308,000
Median Age
38.2
Poverty Rate
7.0%
Labor force participation
62.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.7%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.3%
Carpool
14.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.4%
Work from Home
8.9%
Other
0.8%
Based on 4,433 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 Helena Valley Southeast. 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 Helena Valley Southeast 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 Helena Valley Southeast sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Helena Valley Southeast 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, 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.