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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-STANFORD-MT · Stanford, MT 266 pop · income 23rd pct · 1 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 Stanford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Stanford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Geraldine · lowest
42,639
Geraldine · lowest
42,639 median HH income
53.0% of the leader · rank #1
Stanford · this city
52,045
Stanford · this city
52,045 median HH income
64.7% of the leader · rank #2
Ladonia · near
52,045
Ladonia · near
52,045 median HH income
64.7% of the leader · rank #3
Butterfield · near
52,045
Butterfield · near
52,045 median HH income
64.7% of the leader · rank #4
Opdyke West · near
52,045
Opdyke West · near
52,045 median HH income
64.7% of the leader · rank #5
Momence · near
52,048
Momence · near
52,048 median HH income
64.7% of the leader · rank #6
Ste. Marie · highest
80,417
Ste. Marie · highest
80,417 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 Stanford 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: 266.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Stanford places in the 23rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
23rd
percentile, household income
34th
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: Stanford, MT
Montana's Stanford is a small town, with 266 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Stanford households earn a median of $52,045 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.2%. Typical homes in Stanford are valued around $170,100, and the median resident age is 62.1 years. About 18.9% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 50.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 44.6°F with 17.3 inches of precipitation per year.
Living costs in Montana run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Montana scores 94.6 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,336 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $175 across Montana, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Stanford workers runs 15.3 minutes, with 66.4% driving alone and 8.6% working from home. 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 Stanford'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 climate and hazard context to population change to within-city variation to schools and households to comparison shortlist 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 Stanford, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Stanford?
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 44.6°F, with 17.3 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.
Is Stanford growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +27 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.8% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Stanford?
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 Hillside Colony (267 residents); Geraldine (264 residents, $42,639 income); Wyola (264 residents, $48,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gainesville, AL (266 residents); Fort Washington, CA (266 residents); Hillrose, CO (266 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.
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 Stanford?
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. 18.9% 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.
Poverty estimate
4.2%
Bachelor's degree+
18.9%
Matched public schools
3
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Stanford?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 66.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 15.3 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
66.4%
Work from home
8.6%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 128 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Stanford?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.3×
Home value
$170,100
Household income
$52,045
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
D
City profile score · Stanford, MT
47/100
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 B
4.2%
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
18.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$52,045
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).
Stanford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 71/100 (B) · 4.2%
Cost of living: 66/100 (B-) · 94.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.9%
Household income: 23/100 (F) · $52,045
How does Stanford compare to other US cities?
Here's how Stanford stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income23% higher than other cities
Home value34% 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 Stanford 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 Stanford near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Stanford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Stanford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#189 of 282
33rd percentile in Montana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#199 of 279
29th percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#195 of 315
38th percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#195 of 317
38th 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
23rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Stanford's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$170,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 66% 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
Stanford's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,972 of 15,516
More affordable than 49% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,541 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.3×, Stanford sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,972 of 15,516 and #6,541 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
$52,045Stanford, MT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Stanford, 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 Stanford, MT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
266
Median Income
$52,045
Median Home Value
$170,100
Median Age
62.1
Poverty Rate
4.2%
Labor force participation
50.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.9%
Climate
Avg Temperature
44.6°F
Annual Precipitation
17.3"
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
Stanford's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
400 residents
2021
404 residents
2022
412 residents
2023
416 residents
2024
417 residents
2025
427 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
15.3 minutes
Drive Alone
66.4%
Carpool
12.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
12.5%
Work from Home
8.6%
Based on 128 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 Stanford. 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 Stanford 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 Stanford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Stanford 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.