Billings composite
42.7 /100
Grade C · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Billings vs Great Falls
Billings, MT and Great Falls, MT side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 42.7
- Billings Life Score
- C
- Billings grade
- 37.3
- Great Falls Life Score
- D
- Great Falls grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Billings scores higher on 4 (cost of living, wages, safety, childcare) and Great Falls on 3 (rent, schools, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Billings Great Falls ◗
cost of living
50
34
wages
50
27
rent
36
52
safety
27
26
schools
2
4
childcare
36
36
environment
94
94
Billings and Great Falls differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Billings has a cost-of-living index of 93.5 vs Great Falls's 96.8 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $64,222 in Billings and $60,566 in Great Falls. A 2-bedroom averages $1,417/mo vs $1,284/mo.
Beyond the headline numbers
Reading the Billings vs Great Falls Comparison
The cost gap above compounds fastest through housing: the difference in HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent between Billings and Great Falls works out to $1,596 over a year, the largest single line item behind the headline spread.
Adjusted for cost of living rather than compared as nominal dollars, $100,000 earned in Billings carries the same local purchasing power as $103,549 in Great Falls - the more honest read than the salary headline above, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 426.4 per 100,000 residents in MT vs 426.4 in MT, with property-crime rates of 1645.6 and 1645.6 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: MT lists 826 public schools at a 11.3:1 student-teacher ratio, while MT lists 826 schools at 11.3:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $11,466/yr in the Billings area versus $11,466/yr in Great Falls - a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Billings and Great Falls are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Great Falls composite
37.3 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
Environment score gap
1 pts
Great Falls cleaner, national percentile
Safety score gap
1 pts
Billings safer, national percentile
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Billings
Billings composite (Grade C)
Great Falls
Great Falls composite (Grade D)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Billings | Great Falls |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 93.5 | 96.8 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.0 |
| Services | 72.4 | 73.0 |
| Rents | 77.4 | 97.1 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Great Falls gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Billings?
$
Equivalent in Great Falls:
$103,549
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Billings: 93.5, Great Falls: 96.8, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Billings | Great Falls |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,016/mo | $960/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,109/mo | $979/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,417/mo | $1,284/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,951/mo | $1,786/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $2,216/mo | $2,035/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Billings | Great Falls |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $64,222 | $60,566 |
| Total Employment | 86,460 | 31,100 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Billings (MT) | Great Falls (MT) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 426.4 | 426.4 |
| Property Crime | 1645.6 | 1645.6 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | MT | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 826 | 826 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 11.3:1 | 11.3:1 |
| Charter Schools | 0.0% | 0.0% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) DOL →
| Age Group | MT | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $11,466/yr | $11,466/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $11,929/yr | $11,929/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $10,243/yr | $10,243/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | MT | MT |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 79 | 79 |
| Water Systems | 818 | 818 |
| Superfund Sites | 19 | 19 |
| Water Violations | 1,604 | 1,604 |
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Billings | Great Falls |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 38.0 | 46.0 |
| Good Air Days | 86.3% | 59.8% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 0 days | 0 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | MT | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 7/100 | 7/100 |
| Total Violations | 297,270 | 297,270 |
| Health-Based Violations | 25,922 | 25,922 |
| Systems with Violations | 94.7% | 94.7% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | MT | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 3/100 | 3/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 97.1% | 97.1% |
| HPSA Designations | 330 | 330 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | MT | MT |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 85/100 | 85/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 33.3 | 33.3 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 32.3 | 32.3 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Billings more expensive than Great Falls? ▼
Billings has a cost of living index of 93.5 compared to Great Falls's 96.8 (national average = 100). Great Falls is 3.3 points above Billings on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Billings and Great Falls? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,417/mo in Billings vs $1,284/mo in Great Falls, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,016/mo to $960/mo.
How do salaries compare between Billings and Great Falls? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $64,222 in Billings and $60,566 in Great Falls, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Billings has the same purchasing power as $103,549 in Great Falls.
Is Billings or Great Falls safer? ▼
At the state level, MT has a violent crime rate of 426.4 per 100,000 residents compared to MT's 426.4 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1645.6 vs 1645.6 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Billings and Great Falls? ▼
MT has 826 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 11.3:1, while MT has 826 schools at 11.3:1. Charter schools make up 0.0% of MT schools vs 0.0% in MT. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
Explore more
Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare