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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-MILES-CITY-MT · Miles City, MT 8,412 pop · income 36th pct · 6 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 Miles City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Miles City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Havre · lowest
58,000
Havre · lowest
58,000 median HH income
45.3% of the leader · rank #1
Port Charlotte · near
60,729
Port Charlotte · near
60,729 median HH income
47.5% of the leader · rank #2
Ionia · near
60,729
Ionia · near
60,729 median HH income
47.5% of the leader · rank #3
Miles City · this city
60,732
Miles City · this city
60,732 median HH income
47.5% of the leader · rank #4
St. Ignace · near
60,735
St. Ignace · near
60,735 median HH income
47.5% of the leader · rank #5
Mound City · near
60,735
Mound City · near
60,735 median HH income
47.5% of the leader · rank #6
Mont Belvieu · highest
127,902
Mont Belvieu · highest
127,902 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Miles City 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: 8,412.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Miles City - the verdict
Nationally, Miles City sits in the 36th percentile for household income and the 62nd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
36th
percentile, household income
37th
percentile, home value
61st
percentile, median rent
62nd
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: Miles City, MT
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 8,412 residents in Miles City, a small town within Montana. Miles City households earn a median of $60,732 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.4%. Typical homes in Miles City are valued around $182,700, and the median resident age is 43.1 years. 29.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 64.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 1 residential building permits were authorized in Miles City (Low Activity), per Census BPS data. Miles City reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1051.5 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).
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. 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 Miles City'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 reported crime to comparison shortlist to schools and households to housing and income to population change to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Miles City, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Miles City?
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 71.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Miles City?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1051.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 54% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Miles City?
Within Montana, the closest population matches are Whitefish (8,422 residents, $71,110 income); Helena Valley West Central (8,224 residents, $89,040 income); Livingston (8,635 residents, $65,187 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mukwonago, WI (8,411 residents); Mont Belvieu, TX (8,416 residents); Dumbarton, VA (8,407 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can 6 Census tracts reveal inside Miles City?
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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Miles City?
The NCES join finds 11 public schools within the city match. 29.7% 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.
Matched public schools
11
Bachelor's degree+
29.7%
Poverty estimate
5.4%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Miles City?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.4%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$60,732
Home value
$182,700
Value / income
3.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Miles City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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 +110 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+1.3%
2025 estimate
8,450
2020 estimate
8,340
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 5.4% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
C-
City profile score · Miles City, MT
50/100
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.
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+
5.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C
29.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$60,732
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
307 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Miles City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 66/100 (B-) · 94.6 index
Poverty rate: 63/100 (C+) · 5.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 57/100 (C) · 29.7%
Household income: 36/100 (F) · $60,732
Violent crime: 32/100 (F) · 307 /100k
Where Miles City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Miles City'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 - Miles City highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Miles City, MT (this city): home $182,700, crime 1,052/100k
Mukwonago, WI : home $335,900, crime 1,272/100k
Mont Belvieu, TX : home $365,200, crime 1,490/100k
Pleasant Hills, PA : home $235,500, crime 1,197/100k
Kronenwetter, WI : home $240,700, crime 314/100k
Guadalupe, CA : home $452,100, crime 582/100k
Whitefish, MT : home $648,200, crime 1,213/100k
Livingston, MT : home $348,700, crime 1,921/100k
Havre, MT : home $197,600, crime 3,870/100k
How does Miles City compare to other US cities?
Here's how Miles City stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income36% higher than other cities
Home value37% pricier than other cities
Median rent61% pricier than other cities
Safety62% 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, Miles City ranks #16 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 Miles City 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 Miles City near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Miles City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Miles City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#141 of 282
50th percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#182 of 279
35th percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#176 of 315
44th percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#96 of 317
70th 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
36th percentile nationally for median household income · 62nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Miles City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Miles City'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 Miles City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$182,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 63% 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
Miles City's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#6,734 of 15,516
More affordable than 57% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,694 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.0×, Miles City sits in the moderate band:
national rank #6,734 of 15,516 and #5,694 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
$60,732Miles City, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Miles City, 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 Miles City, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,412
Median Income
$60,732
Median Home Value
$182,700
Median Age
43.1
Poverty Rate
5.4%
Labor force participation
64.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1051.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
307.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
744.3
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.
Schools
Total Schools
11
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Miles City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
8,340 residents
2021
8,410 residents
2022
8,431 residents
2023
8,433 residents
2024
8,413 residents
2025
8,450 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
3
3
0
$0.8M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
2
2
0
$0.1M
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
1
1
0
$0.1M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.9%
Carpool
17.0%
Public Transit
0.1%
Walk
5.3%
Work from Home
4.5%
Other
1.2%
Based on 4,475 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 Miles City. 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 Miles City 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 Miles City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Miles City 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, 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.