Metro Life Score
Helena, MT
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 13th percentile of the national corpus.
- 40.7
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #336
- of 387 metros
- 13%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
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The verdict
Helena is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #336 of 387 (40.7/100, grade C-, 13th percentile). Carried by environment at 94/100; held back most by schools at 5/100.
- 13th
- composite percentile
- #336
- of 387 peers
- 39th
- cost dimension percentile
- 64th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · signature composite
Helena: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Helena sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#336 of 387, 40.7/100, 13th percentile). Stamps LOWER · ENVIRO-LED; Schools at 5/100 is the main drag; Environment (94/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks DEAR/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Helena, MT ranks #336 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #235 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 95.7 (rent-RPP 90.1). BLS median salary $66,812, 38,620 jobs (Business Operations Specialists, All Other, Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,748/mo (studio $1,240).
FBI UCR (MT): 426 violent, 1646 property/100K. NCES: 11.3:1 ratio, 0.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,466/yr. EPA: 19 Superfund sites (MT).
Where Helena sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
41 13th percentile higher than 13% 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
How the 40.7 is built
Helena's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Helena 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 Helena With...
Ranking Context
Helena outranks 13% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #333 | Yuba City, CA | 40.8 | C- |
| #334 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 40.8 | C- |
| #335 | Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ | 40.8 | C- |
| #336 | Helena, MT | 40.7 | C- |
| #337 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area | 40.7 | C- |
| #338 | Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV | 40.7 | C- |
| #339 | Modesto, CA | 40.5 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Helena, MT is bottom 13% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 40% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
MT Metro Scores
Read with Helena
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Helena (LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area
ABS(composite) peer at 40.7 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV
ABS(composite) peer at 40.7 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Chattanooga, TN-GA
ABS(composite) peer at 40.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL
ABS(composite) peer at 40.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID.
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 39/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Salisbury, MD (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 40/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.
Helena, MT relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · ENVIRO-LED · DEAR/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Helena's bottom-third Life Score
Helena scores 40.7/100 overall, but Environment (94.3) and Schools (4.7) sit 89.6 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Environment is the strongest of Helena's seven dimensions (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Schools is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Billings is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Billings
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.