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Place dossier plate
SheetMT-VIRGINIA-CITY-MT · Virginia City, MT 148 pop
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Virginia City 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: 148.
Virginia City has 148 residents in Montana. Source: Census ACS.
63rd
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: Virginia City, MT
Virginia City is a small town in Montana, home to 148 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Virginia City's housing stock carries a median value of $288,600, and the median resident age is 65.3 years. About 17.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 43.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 2 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Low Activity). NOAA puts Virginia City's yearly average temperature at 43.9°F with 15.7 inches of precipitation per year and 64.7 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,336 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $175 across Montana, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Virginia City workers runs 16.2 minutes, with 71.4% driving alone and 12.2% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 33.3 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Virginia 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 population change to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Virginia City, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Virginia City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +42 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +19.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 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 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Virginia City?
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 Stockett (148 residents, $77,614 income); Happys Inn (146 residents, $47,976 income); Maxville (150 residents, $143,462 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Ali Molina, AZ (148 residents); Clyattville, GA (148 residents); Adair, IL (148 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What physical conditions frame life in Virginia City?
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 43.9°F, with 15.7 inches of precipitation and 64.7 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Virginia City?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.2 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.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Montana average
B-
City profile score · Virginia City, MT
68/100
3 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
17.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Virginia City 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: 27/100 (F) · 17.6%
How does Virginia City compare to other US cities?
Here's how Virginia City stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Home value63% 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 Virginia 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 Virginia City near the bottom of Montana's cities
Among the 317 Montana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Virginia City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Virginia City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 317
0th percentile in Montana
Median Home Value
#101 of 279
64th percentile in Montana
Poverty Rate
#230 of 315
0th percentile in Montana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#206 of 317
35th 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.
How Virginia City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$288,60037th percentilemore affordable than 37% 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
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Virginia City in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)43.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
148
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
$288,600
Median Age
65.3
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
43.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.6%
Climate
Avg Temperature
43.9°F
Annual Precipitation
15.7"
Annual Snowfall
64.7"
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Virginia City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
218 residents
2021
225 residents
2022
232 residents
2023
240 residents
2024
251 residents
2025
260 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
13.5
permits per 1,000 residents
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
2
2
0
$0.7M
2023
3
3
0
$1.1M
2024
2
2
0
$0.8M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.2 minutes
Drive Alone
71.4%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
16.3%
Work from Home
12.2%
Based on 49 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Virginia 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.