City · Roosevelt County, Montana

Wolf Point, Montana

Wolf Point is a city in Roosevelt County, Montana. It has 2,602 residents. Wolf Point, Montana has a quality-of-life score of 20 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,596 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Montana it ranks #88 of 94 cities and towns. It ranks best on average commute time (low), students per teacher (low) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on premature death (high), life expectancy (low) and dental care shortage (high).

20Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,596 of 15,651 cities and towns
Montana: #88 of 94 in MT
Population: 2,602 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 2,947.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 3081475

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.

Safety8#14,433/15,637
Economy6#14,662/15,631
Housing76#3,626/14,977
Health2#15,373/15,609
Healthcare8#14,336/15,650
Environment96#586/15,453
Education24#11,859/15,649
Infrastructure14#13,449/15,650
Community12#13,744/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#1,968/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Average commute time · low12.3 min
99/100Montana 19.1 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Students per teacher · low10.0×
98/100Montana 13.9×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsRoosevelt County value
Grocery stores · high3.9 /10k
98/100Montana 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRoosevelt County value
High school diploma or higher · high92.0%
98/100Montana 94.6%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Restaurants and bars · high16.6 /10k
96/100Montana 13.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRoosevelt County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.0 µg/m³
96/100Montana 6.6 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyRoosevelt County value

Weaknesses

Premature death · high29,282 /100k
0/100Montana 8,503 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRoosevelt County value
Life expectancy · low62.3 yrs
0/100Montana 77.3 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRoosevelt County value
Dental care shortage · high21.0
0/100Montana 8.7United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationRoosevelt County value
Reading scores · low2.21
0/100Montana 3.08United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRoosevelt County value
Distance to an airport · high225 mi
0/100Montana 53 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauRoosevelt County value
Broadband subscriptions · low74.3%
1/100Montana 89.4%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,774 (2015-2019) → 2,602 (2020-2024)
−6.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
34.0% (2015-2019) → 8.2% (2020-2024)
−26 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
33.9% (2015-2019) → 46.0% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
21.5% (2015-2019) → 11.9% (2020-2024)
−9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Average commute timeWorsening
9.1 min (2015-2019) → 12.3 min (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Unemployment rateWorsening
10.8% (2015-2019) → 17.4% (2020-2024)
+6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Wolf Point, Montana improved on 0 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 12 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.

Declined1

Bachelor's+−9.6 points21.5% → 11.9%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Wolf Point, Montana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	9.1 min2015-2019	12.3 min2020-2024	+3.2 min	Within the margin of error	18%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.5%2015-2019	11.9%2020-2024	−9.6 points	Declined	2%
Broadband subscriptions	69.5%2015-2019	74.3%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Effective property tax rate	1.11%2015-2019	0.97%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	46%
High school diploma or higher	89.8%2015-2019	92.0%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.2×2020-2024	−0.2×	Within the margin of error	85%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4512015-2019	0.4092020-2024	−0.043	Within the margin of error	81%
Median household income	$43,5552015-2019	$52,8682020-2024	+21%	Within the margin of error	36%
Poverty rate	28.3%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	−4.9 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Rent as share of income	25.4%2015-2019	27.8%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Rent-burdened households	33.9%2015-2019	46.0%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Unemployment rate	10.8%2015-2019	17.4%2020-2024	+6.5 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	26.2%2015-2019	28.5%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	23%

“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 Wolf Point, Montana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Wolf Point, 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, Wolf Point, Montana itself moved −4.5 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

2,602 residents (±17)

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

855 households (±110)

Wolf Point, Montana
Montana share

Under $25k31%†267
$25k–50k18%†155
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

855 households (±110)

Wolf Point, Montana
Montana share

Own53%449
Rent47%406

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

1,017 workers (±152)

Wolf Point, Montana
Montana share

Drive alone72%730
Carpool14%†146
Public transit0.6%†6

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 Roosevelt County, the county holding most of Wolf Point's residents.

Roosevelt County has 206 employer establishments, 199 for every 10,000 residents (0.80× the US rate of 248; 0.53× Montana's), with 1,722 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,269. The Census Bureau also counts 511 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 206; 511 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 199; US 248 · Montana 376
Paid employees: 1,722
Average annual pay: $40,269; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	15	14.5	0.79×Fewer than typical	114	$14,526	4
Truck transportation	10	9.7	1.91×More than typical	28	$75,036	18
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	9	8.7	3.27×Too few to compare	94	$20,702	3
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	9	8.7	7.17×Too few to compare	49	$15,449	—
Gasoline stations	9	8.7	2.68×Too few to compare	142	$34,556	—
Lessors of real estate	9	8.7	0.71×Too few to compare	30	$22,200	40
Specialty trade contractors	8	7.7	0.50×Too few to compare	15	$89,733	40
Ambulatory health care services	7	6.8	0.32×Too few to compare	37	$41,378	13
Banks and credit unions	7	6.8	2.09×Too few to compare	52	$51,769	—
Construction of buildings	7	6.8	0.89×Too few to compare	12	$50,167	21
Grocery and convenience stores	7	6.8	2.28×Too few to compare	111	$22,306	4
Full-service restaurants	6	5.8	0.75×Too few to compare	60	$17,167	—

Rank places for an industry Open Roosevelt County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 10,349 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: Wolf Point is mostly in Roosevelt County.

See federal money in Roosevelt 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.

Wolf Point, 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.

Roosevelt County32100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Roosevelt 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/3081475

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends