City · Chouteau County, Montana

Fort Benton, Montana

Fort Benton is a city in Chouteau County, Montana. It has 1,474 residents. Fort Benton, Montana has a quality-of-life score of 69 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,910 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Montana it ranks #49 of 94 cities and towns. It ranks best on grocery stores (high), public libraries (high) and reading scores (high). It ranks worst on mental health care shortage (high), distance to an airport (high) and suicide rate (high).

69High

Quality-of-life score: #4,910 of 15,651 cities and towns
Montana: #49 of 94 in MT
Population: 1,474 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 641.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 3028000

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.

Safety46#8,488/15,637
Economy61#6,072/15,631
Housing75#3,746/14,977
Health45#8,515/15,609
Healthcare38#9,778/15,650
Environment81#2,866/15,453
Education98#316/15,649
Infrastructure30#10,907/15,650
Community42#9,005/15,651
Leisure & amenities99#188/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Grocery stores · high6.8 /10k
100/100Montana 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsChouteau County value
Public libraries · high6.8 /10k
100/100Montana 1.0 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesChouteau County value
Reading scores · high3.57
99/100Montana 3.08United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChouteau 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 · low92 min
98/100Montana 123 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesChouteau County value
Unemployment rate · low0.0%
98/100Montana 3.3%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025

Weaknesses

Mental health care shortage · high21.0
0/100Montana 15.3United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationChouteau County value
Distance to an airport · high156 mi
2/100Montana 53 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauChouteau County value
Suicide rate · high31.7 /100k
3/100Montana 30.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataChouteau County value
Traffic deaths · high40.7 /100k
3/100Montana 19.4 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataChouteau County value
Dentists · low17 /100k
3/100Montana 75 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteChouteau County value
Firearm deaths · high26.0 /100k
5/100Montana 23.6 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataChouteau County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
0.7 /1k (2021) → 6.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+847%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
29.8% (2015-2019) → 52.5% (2020-2024)
+23 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$44,318 (2015-2019) → $67,188 (2020-2024)
+52%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
22.8% (2015-2019) → 30.4% (2020-2024)
+7.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
12.0% (2015-2019) → 4.4% (2020-2024)
−7.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Child poverty rateImproving
6.5% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Fort Benton, Montana improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 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

Uninsured−7.6 points12.0% → 4.4%
Household income+52%$44,318 → $67,188

Declined1

Rent / income+7.6 points22.8% → 30.4%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Fort Benton, Montana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.5 min2015-2019	13.7 min2020-2024	−3.8 min	Within the margin of error	84%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.7%2015-2019	30.2%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Broadband subscriptions	77.6%2015-2019	81.4%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Effective property tax rate	0.95%2015-2019	0.80%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
High school diploma or higher	98.4%2015-2019	96.4%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Home price to income ratio	3.5×2015-2019	3.7×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	69%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3742015-2019	0.3482020-2024	−0.026	Within the margin of error	71%
Median household income	$44,3182015-2019	$67,1882020-2024	+52%	Improved	86%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	22.8%2015-2019	30.4%2020-2024	+7.6 points	Declined	14%
Rent-burdened households	29.8%2015-2019	52.5%2020-2024	+23 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.0%2015-2019	4.4%2020-2024	−7.6 points	Improved	93%

“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 Fort Benton, Montana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fort Benton, 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, Fort Benton, Montana itself moved −9.9 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

1,474 residents (±160)

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

555 households (±63)

Fort Benton, Montana
Montana share

Under $25k15%†81
$25k–50k26%†146
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

555 households (±63)

Fort Benton, Montana
Montana share

Own80%442
Rent20%†113

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+11.6 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

509 workers (±94)

Fort Benton, Montana
Montana share

Drive alone71%362
Carpool9.0%†46
Public transit0.0%0

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 Chouteau County, the county holding most of Fort Benton's residents.

Chouteau County has 153 employer establishments, 260 for every 10,000 residents (1.05× the US rate of 248; 0.69× Montana's), with 772 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,918. The Census Bureau also counts 401 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 153; 401 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 260; US 248 · Montana 376
Paid employees: 772
Average annual pay: $41,918; US $68,342

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

Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	15.3	3.49×Too few to compare	23	$49,087	10
Ambulatory health care services	8	13.6	0.65×Too few to compare	18	$146,278	8
Restaurants and other eating places	7	11.9	0.65×Too few to compare	40	$11,700	—
Religious organizations	6	10.2	1.84×Too few to compare	14	$12,286	—
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	5	8.5	3.20×Too few to compare	11	$31,636	4
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	5	8.5	7.02×Too few to compare	16	$11,000	—
Full-service restaurants	5	8.5	1.11×Too few to compare	39	$11,667	—
Other amusement and recreation industries	5	8.5	3.51×Too few to compare	11	$31,636	4
Specialty trade contractors	5	8.5	0.55×Too few to compare	13	$48,692	35
Banks and credit unions	4	6.8	2.11×Too few to compare	26	$47,346	—
Grocery and convenience stores	4	6.8	2.29×Too few to compare	46	$21,022	—
Individual and family services	4	6.8	2.43×Too few to compare	48	$27,000	5

Rank places for an industry Open Chouteau County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 5,875 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: Fort Benton is mostly in Chouteau County.

See federal money in Chouteau 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.

Fort Benton, 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.

Chouteau County63100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Chouteau 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/3028000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends