City · Sweet Grass County, Montana

Big Timber, Montana

Big Timber is a city in Sweet Grass County, Montana. It has 1,611 residents. Big Timber, Montana has a quality-of-life score of 82 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,743 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Montana it ranks #30 of 94 cities and towns. It ranks best on arts, entertainment and recreation (high), property crime rate (low) and suicide rate (low). It ranks worst on pharmacies (low), traffic deaths (high) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

82Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,743 of 15,651 cities and towns
Montana: #30 of 94 in MT
Population: 1,611 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,648.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 3006475

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety55#7,092/15,637
Economy63#5,727/15,631
Housing82#2,681/14,977
Health79#3,279/15,609
Healthcare30#10,894/15,650
Environment75#3,795/15,453
Education60#6,305/15,649
Infrastructure61#6,172/15,650
Community97#399/15,651
Leisure & amenities98#377/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Big Timber, Montana ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Sweet Grass County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Arts, entertainment and recreation · high31.9 /10k
100/100Montana 13.7 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSweet Grass County value
Property crime rate · low137 /100k
100/100Montana 1,449 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSweet Grass County value
Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100Montana 30.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSweet Grass County value
High school diploma or higher · high96.4%
99/100Montana 94.6%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Time spent in the emergency room · low88 min
99/100Montana 123 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSweet Grass County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Montana 14.5 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataSweet Grass County value

Weaknesses

Pharmacies · low0.0 /10k
1/100Montana 1.3 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSweet Grass County value
Traffic deaths · high48.1 /100k
2/100Montana 19.4 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataSweet Grass County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high189 mi
3/100Montana 117 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSweet Grass County value
Flu vaccinations · low26.0%
3/100Montana 39.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSweet Grass County value
Firearm deaths · high24.8 /100k
6/100Montana 23.6 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataSweet Grass County value
Comfortable days · low22.8%
6/100Montana 22.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSweet Grass County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
0.6 /1k (2021) → 1.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+226%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.4% (2015-2019) → 87.7% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
7.0% (2015-2019) → 22.7% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
20.3% (2015-2019) → 34.5% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$48,718 (2015-2019) → $66,898 (2020-2024)
+37%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
8.4% (2015-2019) → 15.8% (2020-2024)
+7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Big Timber, Montana improved on 2 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 5 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Broadband+17 points70.4% → 87.7%
Household income+37%$48,718 → $66,898

Declined2

Uninsured+7.4 points8.4% → 15.8%
Inequality+0.0740.348 → 0.422

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Big Timber, Montana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.4 min2015-2019	18.9 min2020-2024	+1.6 min	Within the margin of error	31%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.9%2015-2019	16.2%2020-2024	−6.7 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Broadband subscriptions	70.4%2015-2019	87.7%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Effective property tax rate	0.78%2015-2019	0.53%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	68%
High school diploma or higher	95.9%2015-2019	96.4%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	4.2×2020-2024	+0.8×	Within the margin of error	32%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3482015-2019	0.4222020-2024	+0.074	Declined	9%
Median household income	$48,7182015-2019	$66,8982020-2024	+37%	Improved	69%
Rent as share of income	17.9%2015-2019	21.8%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.4%2015-2019	15.8%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Declined	6%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Big Timber, Montana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Big Timber, Montana in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Big Timber, Montana itself moved −5.9 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,611 residents (±207)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

707 households (±100)

Big Timber, Montana
Montana share

Under $25k17%†122
$25k–50k24%†169
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

707 households (±100)

Big Timber, Montana
Montana share

Own80%568
Rent20%†139

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+21.8 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

781 workers (±112)

Big Timber, Montana
Montana share

Drive alone66%514
Carpool9.3%†73
Public transit4.0%†31

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Sweet Grass County, the county holding most of Big Timber's residents.

Sweet Grass County has 187 employer establishments, 494 for every 10,000 residents (1.99× the US rate of 248; 1.31× Montana's), with 1,361 paid employees at an average annual pay of $66,411. The Census Bureau also counts 515 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 187; 515 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 494; US 248 · Montana 376
Paid employees: 1,361
Average annual pay: $66,411; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Sweet Grass County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	21	55.4	3.58×More than typical	55	$52,000	52
Construction of buildings	12	31.7	4.19×More than typical	35	$46,314	37
Lessors of real estate	11	29	2.36×More than typical	9	$94,333	75
Restaurants and other eating places	11	29	1.58×More than typical	118	$19,119	3
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	9	23.8	8.94×Too few to compare	26	$26,192	8
Ambulatory health care services	8	21.1	1.01×Too few to compare	22	$43,136	17
Building equipment contractors	8	21.1	3.51×Too few to compare	15	$42,800	8
Other amusement and recreation industries	8	21.1	8.71×Too few to compare	21	$25,762	8
Real estate agents and brokers	7	18.5	3.80×Too few to compare	7	$67,286	—
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	6	15.8	5.03×Too few to compare	13	$64,538	9
Full-service restaurants	6	15.8	2.06×Too few to compare	88	$21,489	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	6	15.8	2.35×Too few to compare	12	$32,833	30

Rank places for an industry Open Sweet Grass County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 3,788 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Big Timber is mostly in Sweet Grass County.

See federal money in Sweet Grass County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Big Timber, Montana is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Troy DowningR-MT-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Sweet Grass County90100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Sweet Grass County

Largest first.

Greycliff158

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3006475

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends