City · Gallatin County, Montana

Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, part of the Bozeman, MT metro area. It has 56,114 residents. Bozeman, Montana has a quality-of-life score of 96 out of 100 (very high), ranking #664 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Montana it ranks #7 of 94 cities and towns. It ranks best on gyms and fitness centers (high), high school diploma or higher (high) and median Air Quality Index (low). It ranks worst on distance to an Amtrak station (high), home price to income ratio (high) and pharmacies (low).

96Very high

Quality-of-life score: #664 of 15,651 cities and towns
Montana: #7 of 94 in MT
Population: 56,114 (2020-2024)
Land area: 21 mi²
Density: 2,621.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 3008950

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety40#9,428/15,637
Economy77#3,620/15,631
Housing55#6,722/14,977
Health88#1,827/15,609
Healthcare72#4,341/15,650
Environment95#806/15,453
Education99#181/15,649
Infrastructure92#1,228/15,650
Community97#521/15,651
Leisure & amenities99#219/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Gyms and fitness centers · high3.3 /10k
100/100Montana 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGallatin County value
High school diploma or higher · high97.3%
100/100Montana 94.6%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Median Air Quality Index · low11
99/100Montana 332025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGallatin County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high18.6 /10k
99/100Montana 13.7 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGallatin County value
Reading scores · high3.52
98/100Montana 3.08United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGallatin County value
Hot days · low1 days
98/100Montana 15 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGallatin County value

Weaknesses

Distance to an Amtrak station · high198 mi
3/100Montana 117 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauGallatin County value
Home price to income ratio · high8.0×
3/100Montana 5.2×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Pharmacies · low0.5 /10k
4/100Montana 1.3 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGallatin County value
Suicide rate · high23.7 /100k
11/100Montana 30.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGallatin County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.483
11/100Montana 0.465United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Comfortable days · low23.4%
12/100Montana 22.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGallatin County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
46,746 (2015-2019) → 56,114 (2020-2024)
+20%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Median household incomeImproving
$55,569 (2015-2019) → $85,747 (2020-2024)
+54%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
New homes permittedWorsening
23.6 /1k (2021) → 15.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−34%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
58.7% (2015-2019) → 65.1% (2020-2024)
+6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
6.6× (2015-2019) → 8.0× (2020-2024)
+22%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Poverty rateImproving
17.8% (2015-2019) → 13.7% (2020-2024)
−4.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

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, Bozeman, Montana improved on 5 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 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.

Improved5

Household income+54%$55,569 → $85,747
Poverty−4.1 points17.8% → 13.7%
Bachelor's++6.4 points58.7% → 65.1%
Uninsured−2.3 points9.3% → 7.0%
Broadband+3 points88.9% → 92.0%

Declined1

Price / income+1.4×6.6× → 8.0×

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Bozeman, Montana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.4 min2015-2019	15.5 min2020-2024	+1.1 min	Within the margin of error	35%
Bachelor's degree or higher	58.7%2015-2019	65.1%2020-2024	+6.4 points	Improved	76%
Broadband subscriptions	88.9%2015-2019	92.0%2020-2024	+3 points	Improved	20%
Child poverty rate	8.5%2015-2019	7.1%2020-2024	−1.4 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Effective property tax rate	0.76%2015-2019	0.63%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Little change	41%
High school diploma or higher	97.9%2015-2019	97.3%2020-2024	−0.6 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Home price to income ratio	6.6×2015-2019	8.0×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	10%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4712015-2019	0.4832020-2024	+0.013	Within the margin of error	39%
Median household income	$55,5692015-2019	$85,7472020-2024	+54%	Improved	88%
Poverty rate	17.8%2015-2019	13.7%2020-2024	−4.1 points	Improved	76%
Public transit commuters	0.6%2015-2019	0.7%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	97%
Rent as share of income	32.3%2015-2019	30.6%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Rent-burdened households	54.5%2015-2019	50.9%2020-2024	−3.5 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Unemployment rate	3.2%2015-2019	3.0%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.3%2015-2019	7.0%2020-2024	−2.3 points	Improved	71%

“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 Bozeman, Montana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bozeman, 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, Bozeman, Montana itself moved +1.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

56,114 residents (±33)

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

23,970 households (±490)

Bozeman, Montana
Montana share

Under $25k13%2,999
$25k–50k16%3,723
$50k–75k15%3,712

Homes

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

Owners and renters

23,970 households (±490)

Bozeman, Montana
Montana share

Own45%10,721
Rent55%13,249

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

33,706 workers (±933)

Bozeman, Montana
Montana share

Drive alone63%21,319
Carpool7.2%2,414
Public transit0.7%†237

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 Bozeman, 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 Gallatin County, the county holding most of Bozeman's residents.

Gallatin County has 6,828 employer establishments, 542 for every 10,000 residents (2.18× the US rate of 248; 1.44× Montana's), with 59,252 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,491. The Census Bureau also counts 17,176 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,828; 17,176 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 542; US 248 · Montana 376
Paid employees: 59,252
Average annual pay: $59,491; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	823	65.3	4.22×More than typical	4,285	$72,844	1,312
Lessors of real estate	502	39.9	3.24×More than typical	1,406	$66,967	2,767
Construction of buildings	487	38.7	5.11×More than typical	2,059	$76,274	763
Ambulatory health care services	405	32.2	1.54×More than typical	3,226	$84,392	651
Restaurants and other eating places	325	25.8	1.40×More than typical	6,386	$26,277	44
Services to buildings and dwellings	291	23.1	3.43×More than typical	1,435	$48,219	842
Building finishing contractors	276	21.9	5.76×More than typical	925	$58,383	543
Real estate agents and brokers	268	21.3	4.37×More than typical	323	$84,523	414
Management, scientific and technical consulting	220	17.5	2.60×More than typical	616	$77,789	869
Architectural, engineering and related services	211	16.8	4.80×More than typical	1,394	$86,889	237
Building equipment contractors	208	16.5	2.74×More than typical	1,699	$81,664	157
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	208	16.5	5.24×More than typical	1,089	$64,464	189

Rank places for an industry Open Gallatin County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 125,952 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

In FY2026, an estimated $923.4K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bozeman, Montana: $16.46 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $923.4K; +101% vs FY2025
Per resident: $16.46; US $1,994
Sole-source: 4.6%; US 30%
Single offer: 6.5%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Forest Service$278.1K30%
Departmental Offices$254K28%
Department of the Army$91.4K9.9%
Department of the Air Force$84K9.1%
Department of the Navy$54.1K5.9%
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration$31K3.4%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$26K2.8%
Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services$23.9K2.6%

Top recipients

BRIDGER AEROSPACE GROUP, LLC$254K28%
HIGHLAND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LLC$169K18%
ADVANCED RESEARCH, INC.$128.2K14%
ADVR, INC.$84K9.1%
HOLDEN EXCAVATING LLC$36.7K4.0%

Spending by fiscal year

643.2KFY2017
659.5KFY2018
1.4MFY2019
739.2KFY2020
1MFY2021
951.2KFY2022
1.7MFY2023
1.2M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$263.9K29%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$259.1K28%
Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$211.4K23%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$62.8K6.8%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$28.7K3.1%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bozeman, Montana, so they do not add up across cities.

Bozeman, Montana's figures are part of those of Gallatin County, MT ($115M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.8% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bozeman is mostly in Gallatin County.

See federal money in Gallatin 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.

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

House

Ryan K. ZinkeR-MT-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 3.0%

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.

Gallatin County96100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Bozeman, MT97

Other cities and towns in Gallatin 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/3008950

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends