Metro area · Montana

Great Falls, MT metro area

Great Falls, MT is a metropolitan area of 1 county in Montana, home to 85,029 residents. Great Falls, MT metro area has a quality-of-life score of 57 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #396 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Montana it ranks #7 of 7. It ranks best on arts, entertainment and recreation (high), dentists (high) and average commute time (low). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), property crime rate (high) and comfortable days (low).

57Moderate
Quality-of-life score
#396 of 925 metro and micro areas
Montana
#7 of 7 in MT
Population
85,029 (2025)
Land area
2,698 mi²
Density
31.5 /mi²
CBSA code
24500

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Great Falls, MT metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety12#817/924
  • Economy62#348/925
  • Housing45#505/925
  • Health39#564/925
  • Healthcare70#282/923
  • Environment50#455/917
  • Education75#234/925
  • Infrastructure69#288/925
  • Community49#470/925
  • Leisure & amenities78#207/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Great Falls, MT metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like Great Falls, MT metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Great Falls, MT metro area 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.

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).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

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

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Great Falls, MT

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Cascade CountyCentral county5985,029

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. Great FallsPrincipal city60,329

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Great Falls60,329
  2. Malmstrom AFB4,302
  3. Sun Prairie1,171
  4. Vaughn1,002
  5. Ulm900
  6. Black Eagle781
  7. Cascade572
  8. Belt559
  9. Simms334
  10. Fort Shaw207
  11. Gibson Flats158
  12. Stockett155
  13. Pleasant Valley Colony137
  14. Sand Coulee134
  15. Tracy133
  16. Sun River72
  17. Hardy64
  18. Big Stone Colony45
  19. Cascade Colony44
  20. Neihart39
  21. Riceville26
  22. Centerville23
  23. Monarch22
  24. Fair Haven Colony0

Other metro and micro areas in Montana

Areas based in Montana, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M24500