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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-PLENTYWOOD-MT · Plentywood, MT 1,677 pop · income 39th 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 Plentywood
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Plentywood on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bryson City · lowest
43,387
Bryson City · lowest
43,387 median HH income
34.6% of the leader · rank #1
Searsport · near
62,159
Searsport · near
62,159 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #2
Keystone · near
62,159
Keystone · near
62,159 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #3
Fort Myers · near
62,160
Fort Myers · near
62,160 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #4
Plentywood · this city
62,163
Plentywood · this city
62,163 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #5
Elk Mound · near
62,167
Elk Mound · near
62,167 median HH income
49.5% of the leader · rank #6
Ko Olina · highest
125,577
Ko Olina · highest
125,577 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 Plentywood 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: 1,677.
Plentywood ranks in the 39th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
39th
percentile, household income
27th
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: Plentywood, MT
Montana's Plentywood is a small town, with 1,677 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $62,163 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.3%. Home values in Plentywood run a median of $148,800, and the median resident age is 49.5 years. About 21.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 56.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits). NOAA puts Plentywood's yearly average temperature at 39.4°F with 14.7 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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Montana's average monthly utility costs around $175 (state average). Workers in Plentywood report an average commute of 9.0 minutes, with 72.2% driving alone and 0.4% working from home. 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 Plentywood'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 schools and households to population change to climate and hazard context to within-city variation to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Plentywood, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Plentywood?
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.
Within Montana, the closest population matches are Forsyth (1,682 residents, $58,375 income); Choteau (1,719 residents, $53,929 income); Frenchtown (1,629 residents, $90,767 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elizabeth Lake, CA (1,677 residents); Ko Olina, HI (1,677 residents); Gower, MO (1,677 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.
What does the education layer cover for Plentywood?
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. 21.3% 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.
Is Plentywood growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -51 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.1% 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 downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
What can 2 Census tracts reveal inside Plentywood?
PlainCities matches 2 Census tracts to this 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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Plentywood?
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 39.4°F, with 14.7 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
33.3
Annual precipitation
14.7 in
Mean temperature
39.4°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
How far does income reach against housing in Plentywood?
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 home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.4×
Home value
$148,800
Household income
$62,163
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Plentywood?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 9.0 minutes.
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.
Drive alone
72.2%
Work from home
0.4%
Public transit
1.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 784 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 7.3% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
D
City profile score · Plentywood, MT
48/100
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-
7.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$62,163
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
21.3%
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).
Plentywood profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 66/100 (B-) · 94.6 index
Poverty rate: 51/100 (C-) · 7.3%
Household income: 38/100 (F) · $62,163
Bachelor's+ share: 38/100 (F) · 21.3%
How does Plentywood compare to other US cities?
Here's how Plentywood stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income39% higher than other cities
Home value27% 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 Plentywood 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 Plentywood near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Plentywood ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Plentywood only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#134 of 282
52nd percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#213 of 279
23rd percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#144 of 315
54th percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#167 of 317
47th 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
39th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Plentywood's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$148,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 73% 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
Plentywood's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,452 of 15,516
More affordable than 78% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,148 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Plentywood sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,452 of 15,516 and #3,148 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
$62,163Plentywood, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Plentywood, 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 Plentywood, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)21.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,677
Median Income
$62,163
Median Home Value
$148,800
Median Age
49.5
Poverty Rate
7.3%
Labor force participation
56.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.3%
Climate
Avg Temperature
39.4°F
Annual Precipitation
14.7"
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
Plentywood's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,670 residents
2021
1,686 residents
2022
1,674 residents
2023
1,645 residents
2024
1,639 residents
2025
1,619 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
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
2
2
0
$0.8M
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
9.0 minutes
Drive Alone
72.2%
Carpool
10.6%
Public Transit
1.5%
Walk
11.2%
Work from Home
0.4%
Other
4.1%
Based on 784 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 Plentywood. 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 Plentywood 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 Plentywood sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Plentywood 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.