Town · Stillwater County, Montana

Columbus, Montana

Columbus is a town in Stillwater County, Montana, part of the Billings, MT metro area. It has 2,003 residents. Columbus, Montana has a quality-of-life score of 68 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,058 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Montana it ranks #50 of 94 cities and towns. It ranks best on job growth (high), high school diploma or higher (high) and voter turnout (high). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), distance to an Amtrak station (high) and firearm deaths (high).

68High

Quality-of-life score: #5,058 of 15,651 cities and towns
Montana: #50 of 94 in MT
Population: 2,003 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,459.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 3016825

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.

Safety11#13,936/15,637
Economy66#5,295/15,631
Housing69#4,654/14,977
Health61#6,154/15,609
Healthcare24#11,842/15,650
Environment71#4,416/15,453
Education81#3,052/15,649
Infrastructure51#7,734/15,650
Community92#1,303/15,651
Leisure & amenities81#2,903/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Job growth · high11.1%
100/100Montana 0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataStillwater County value
High school diploma or higher · high94.4%
98/100Montana 94.6%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Voter turnout · high82.8%
98/100Montana 70.3%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionStillwater County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,415 /100k
97/100Montana 1,824 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteStillwater County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high11.6 /10k
96/100Montana 13.7 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsStillwater County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.1 µg/m³
96/100Montana 6.6 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyStillwater County value

Weaknesses

Suicide rate · high32.5 /100k
2/100Montana 30.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataStillwater County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high200 mi
3/100Montana 117 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauStillwater County value
Firearm deaths · high28.0 /100k
3/100Montana 23.6 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataStillwater County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Montana 4.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyStillwater County value
Traffic deaths · high37.1 /100k
4/100Montana 19.4 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataStillwater County value
Comfortable days · low22.2%
4/100Montana 22.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationStillwater County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,194 (2015-2019) → 2,003 (2020-2024)
−8.7%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
57.1% (2015-2019) → 34.4% (2020-2024)
−23 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Average commute timeWorsening
17.3 min (2015-2019) → 27.0 min (2020-2024)
+56%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.9× (2015-2019) → 4.3× (2020-2024)
+50%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent as share of incomeImproving
31.7% (2015-2019) → 25.3% (2020-2024)
−6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.377 (2015-2019) → 0.458 (2020-2024)
+21%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483

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, Columbus, Montana improved on 0 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 10 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined2

Inequality+0.0800.377 → 0.458
Price / income+1.4×2.9× → 4.3×

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Columbus, Montana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.3 min2015-2019	27.0 min2020-2024	+9.7 min	Within the margin of error	2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.2%2015-2019	24.0%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	84.3%2015-2019	84.7%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Effective property tax rate	0.67%2015-2019	0.67%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	16%
High school diploma or higher	96.8%2015-2019	94.4%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	4.3×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	10%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3772015-2019	0.4582020-2024	+0.080	Declined	8%
Median household income	$64,0382015-2019	$65,2502020-2024	+1.9%	Within the margin of error	9%
Public transit commuters	3.3%2015-2019	4.6%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	99%
Rent as share of income	31.7%2015-2019	25.3%2020-2024	−6.4 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Rent-burdened households	57.1%2015-2019	34.4%2020-2024	−23 points	Within the margin of error	95%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.9%2015-2019	7.7%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%

“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 Columbus, Montana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Columbus, 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, Columbus, Montana itself moved −12.3 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

2,003 residents (±246)

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

893 households (±115)

Columbus, Montana
Montana share

Under $25k19%†166
$25k–50k25%†219
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

893 households (±115)

Columbus, Montana
Montana share

Own77%685
Rent23%†208

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

† 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

1,012 workers (±177)

Columbus, Montana
Montana share

Drive alone80%811
Carpool7.2%†73
Public transit4.6%†47

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 Billings, 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 Stillwater County, the county holding most of Columbus's residents.

Stillwater County has 263 employer establishments, 285 for every 10,000 residents (1.15× the US rate of 248; 0.76× Montana's), with 3,021 paid employees at an average annual pay of $79,370. The Census Bureau also counts 948 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 263; 948 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 285; US 248 · Montana 376
Paid employees: 3,021
Average annual pay: $79,370; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	35	37.9	2.45×More than typical	126	$56,524	106
Restaurants and other eating places	17	18.4	1.00×About typical	171	$18,199	5
Other specialty trade contractors	16	17.3	6.90×More than typical	55	$52,545	55
Construction of buildings	14	15.2	2.00×More than typical	25	$47,160	59
Religious organizations	13	14.1	2.54×More than typical	30	$23,833	—
Full-service restaurants	10	10.8	1.41×More than typical	89	$17,966	—
Building equipment contractors	9	9.7	1.62×Too few to compare	43	$61,791	19
Lessors of real estate	9	9.7	0.79×Too few to compare	10	$38,300	123
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	8	8.7	2.62×Too few to compare	38	$62,184	7
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	7	7.6	2.85×Too few to compare	16	$37,750	4
Automotive repair and maintenance	7	7.6	1.50×Too few to compare	31	$46,226	20
Gasoline stations	7	7.6	2.34×Too few to compare	90	$28,322	—

Rank places for an industry Open Stillwater County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 9,238 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: Columbus is mostly in Stillwater County.

See federal money in Stillwater 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.

Columbus, 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.

Stillwater County73100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Billings, MT82

Other cities and towns in Stillwater 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/3016825

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends