Metro Life Score
Billings, MT
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C, 21st percentile of the national corpus.
- 42.7
- Life Score / 100
- C
- Grade (curved)
- #305
- of 387 metros
- 21%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Billings is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #305 of 387 (42.7/100, grade C, 21st percentile). Carried by environment at 94/100; held back most by schools at 2/100.
- 21st
- composite percentile
- #305
- of 387 peers
- 50th
- cost dimension percentile
- 50th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
Billings: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Billings sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#305 of 387, 42.7/100, 21st percentile). Stamps LOWER · ENVIRO-LED; Schools at 2/100 is the main drag; Environment (94/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks MID/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Billings, MT ranks #305 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #193 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 93.5 (rent-RPP 77.4). BLS median salary $64,222, 86,460 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,417/mo (studio $1,016).
FBI UCR (MT): 426 violent, 1646 property/100K. NCES: 11.8:1 ratio, 0.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,466/yr. EPA: 19 Superfund sites (MT).
Where Billings sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
43 21st percentile higher than 21% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. 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 PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
Dimension detail
How Billings scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are MT state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Billings With...
Ranking Context
Billings outranks 21% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #302 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | 43.0 | C |
| #303 | Visalia, CA | 43.2 | C |
| #304 | Fresno, CA | 43.2 | C |
| #305 | Billings, MT | 42.7 | C |
| #306 | Glens Falls, NY | 42.6 | C |
| #307 | Colorado Springs, CO | 42.5 | C |
| #308 | Gainesville, GA | 42.5 | C |
MT Metro Scores
Read with Billings
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Billings (LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Glens Falls, NY
ABS(composite) peer at 42.6 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Colorado Springs, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Gainesville, GA
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 42.5 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID.
Bloomington, IL (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 50/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Monroe, MI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 51/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Billings, MT relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · MID/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.