City · Jefferson County, Montana

Boulder, Montana

Boulder is a city in Jefferson County, Montana, part of the Helena, MT metro area. It has 1,284 residents. Boulder, Montana has a quality-of-life score of 77 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,576 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Montana it ranks #38 of 94 cities and towns. It ranks best on preventable hospital stays (low), drug overdose deaths (low) and high school diploma or higher (high). It ranks worst on traffic deaths (high), public EV charging ports (low) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

77High

Quality-of-life score: #3,576 of 15,651 cities and towns
Montana: #38 of 94 in MT
Population: 1,284 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,142.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 3008575

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety36#10,076/15,637
Economy68#4,983/15,631
Housing93#1,060/14,977
Health53#7,265/15,609
Healthcare38#9,709/15,650
Environment63#5,771/15,453
Education83#2,595/15,649
Infrastructure65#5,549/15,650
Community81#3,027/15,651
Leisure & amenities80#3,076/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Boulder, Montana ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Jefferson 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

Preventable hospital stays · low1,160 /100k
99/100Montana 1,824 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJefferson 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 dataJefferson County value
High school diploma or higher · high90.0%
98/100Montana 94.6%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Voter turnout · high82.7%
98/100Montana 70.3%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionJefferson County value
Public libraries · high3.0 /10k
96/100Montana 1.0 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesJefferson County value
Loneliness · low29.5%
96/100Montana 31.7%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

Traffic deaths · high59.6 /100k
1/100Montana 19.4 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataJefferson County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Montana 4.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyJefferson County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high154 mi
4/100Montana 117 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauJefferson County value
Suicide rate · high27.1 /100k
6/100Montana 30.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100k2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateJefferson County value
Distance to an emergency room · high15.1 mi
7/100Montana 12.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesJefferson County value
Comfortable days · low23.3%
10/100Montana 22.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationJefferson County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
869 (2015-2019) → 1,284 (2020-2024)
+48%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
57.4% (2015-2019) → 94.4% (2020-2024)
+37 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
35.2% (2015-2019) → 12.2% (2020-2024)
−23 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
18.6% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
20.6% (2015-2019) → 3.8% (2020-2024)
−17 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$42,454 (2015-2019) → $72,500 (2020-2024)
+71%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Boulder, Montana improved on 2 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 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+37 points57.4% → 94.4%
Household income+71%$42,454 → $72,500

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Boulder, Montana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.8 min2015-2019	24.9 min2020-2024	+3.1 min	Within the margin of error	19%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.4%2015-2019	22.1%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Broadband subscriptions	57.4%2015-2019	94.4%2020-2024	+37 points	Improved	99%
Effective property tax rate	0.88%2015-2019	0.76%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	40%
High school diploma or higher	82.6%2015-2019	90.0%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Within the margin of error	91%
Home price to income ratio	3.3×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	−0.3×	Within the margin of error	91%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3662015-2019	0.3762020-2024	+0.010	Within the margin of error	41%
Median household income	$42,4542015-2019	$72,5002020-2024	+71%	Improved	95%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	19.0%2015-2019	13.5%2020-2024	−5.5 points	Within the margin of error	84%

“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 Boulder, Montana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Boulder, 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, Boulder, Montana itself moved +13.9 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

1,284 residents (±297)

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

520 households (±113)

Boulder, Montana
Montana share

Under $25k16%†85
$25k–50k13%†70
$50k–75k23%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

520 households (±113)

Boulder, Montana
Montana share

Own73%381
Rent27%†139

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+11.9 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

557 workers (±149)

Boulder, Montana
Montana share

Drive alone64%†356
Carpool16%†90
Public transit

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Helena, MT

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 Jefferson County, the county holding most of Boulder's residents.

Jefferson County has 342 employer establishments, 262 for every 10,000 residents (1.06× the US rate of 248; 0.70× Montana's), with 1,959 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,140. The Census Bureau also counts 1,368 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 342; 1,368 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 262; US 248 · Montana 376
Paid employees: 1,959
Average annual pay: $46,140; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	66	50.6	3.27×More than typical	220	$46,500	153
Construction of buildings	27	20.7	2.74×More than typical	81	$50,889	94
Ambulatory health care services	23	17.6	0.85×About typical	59	$50,508	66
Building equipment contractors	19	14.6	2.42×More than typical	95	$53,737	15
Other specialty trade contractors	19	14.6	5.80×More than typical	60	$38,917	71
Restaurants and other eating places	18	13.8	0.75×Fewer than typical	169	$17,627	4
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	17	13	4.13×More than typical	50	$43,100	23
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	12	9.2	2.78×More than typical	82	$56,280	9
Building finishing contractors	11	8.4	2.22×More than typical	15	$42,333	44
Management, scientific and technical consulting	11	8.4	1.26×More than typical	18	$43,500	44
Offices of other health practitioners	11	8.4	1.39×More than typical	20	$55,900	36
Religious organizations	11	8.4	1.52×More than typical	23	$14,565	—

Rank places for an industry Open Jefferson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,049 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: Boulder is mostly in Jefferson County.

See federal money in Jefferson 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.

Boulder, 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.

Jefferson County77100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Helena, MT93

Other cities and towns in Jefferson County

Largest first.

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/3008575

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends