Great Falls composite
30.6 /100
Grade F · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Great Falls vs Helena
Great Falls, MT and Helena, 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.
- 30.6
- Great Falls Life Score
- F
- Great Falls grade
- 34.0
- Helena Life Score
- D
- Helena grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Great Falls scores higher on 3 (rent, safety, childcare) and Helena on 4 (cost of living, wages, schools, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Great Falls vs Helena across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)
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.
◖ Great Falls Helena ◗
cost of living
34
39
wages
23
58
rent
52
18
safety
24
24
schools
9
9
childcare
36
35
environment
35
39
Great Falls and Helena differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Great Falls has a cost-of-living index of 96.8 vs Helena's 95.7 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $60,566 in Great Falls and $66,812 in Helena. A 2-bedroom averages $1,284/mo vs $1,748/mo.
How to read this matchup
Reading the Great Falls vs Helena Comparison
Great Falls (MT) and Helena (MT) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 96.8 for Great Falls against 95.7 for Helena, a 1.2-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,284/mo in Great Falls and $1,748/mo in Helena, a $464/mo difference that compounds to $5,568 over a year.
On wages, BLS OES reports a median salary of $60,566 across 31,100 jobs in Great Falls against $66,812 across 38,620 jobs in Helena. Adjusted through the BEA cost-of-living lens, $100,000 earned in Great Falls carries the same local purchasing power as $98,792 in Helena - the most honest way to read the salary headline, 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 11.8:1 student-teacher ratio, while MT lists 826 schools at 11.8:1, 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 Great Falls area versus $11,466/yr in Helena - 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, Great Falls and Helena 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.
Helena composite
34.0 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
1.2 pts
Great Falls vs Helena BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$464 /mo
Helena priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Great Falls
Great Falls composite (Grade F)
Helena
Helena 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 | Great Falls | Helena |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 96.8 | 95.7 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 96.0 |
| Services | 73.0 | 72.6 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 90.1 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Helena gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Great Falls?
$
Equivalent in Helena:
$98,792
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Great Falls: 96.8, Helena: 95.7, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Great Falls | Helena |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $960/mo | $1,240/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $979/mo | $1,595/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,284/mo | $1,748/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,786/mo | $2,096/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $2,035/mo | $2,856/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Great Falls | Helena |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $60,566 | $66,812 |
| Total Employment | 31,100 | 38,620 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Great Falls (MT) | Helena (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 | 11.8:1 | 11.8:1 |
| 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 | 809 | 809 |
| Superfund Sites | 19 | 19 |
| Water Violations | 1,430 | 1,430 |
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 | Great Falls | Helena |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 46.0 | 46.0 |
| Good Air Days | 59.8% | 63.7% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 0 days | 6 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 | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 315 | 315 |
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 Great Falls more expensive than Helena? ▼
Great Falls has a cost of living index of 96.8 compared to Helena's 95.7 (national average = 100). Great Falls is 1.2 points above Helena on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Great Falls and Helena? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,284/mo in Great Falls vs $1,748/mo in Helena, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $960/mo to $1,240/mo.
How do salaries compare between Great Falls and Helena? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $60,566 in Great Falls and $66,812 in Helena, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Great Falls has the same purchasing power as $98,792 in Helena.
Is Great Falls or Helena 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 Great Falls and Helena? ▼
MT has 826 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 11.8:1, while MT has 826 schools at 11.8:1. 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 Editorial