Billings, MT
Billings, MT Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Billings, MT Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Billings ranks 118th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 137th for income. A household earns $77,770 a year while median rent runs $1,170/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 6% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (35th of 300), while home prices is the soft spot (206th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 123rd and home prices 206th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Billings, your take-home is worth about $62,091 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 137th of 300↑27.6%$77,770
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 129th of 30094 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $83,153
- Per-capita income
- $43,731
- Full-time pay
- $42,800
Housing
- Median rent
- 123rd of 300↑35.6%$1,170/mo
- Home value
- 206th of 300↑59%$383,900
- Property tax
- $2,988/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 0.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 50th of 3003.3%
- Bachelor's+
- 158th of 30032.8%
- Avg commute
- 35th of 30020.8 min
People
- Population
- 192,531
- Population change
- +6%
- Median age
- 41.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 1.5%
- Broadband
- 89.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 52nd of 30039
- Natural-hazard loss
- 147th of 300$12/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 108th of 30017.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.2%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Home prices
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — billings intl ap.
What jobs pay in Billings
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $294,040
- Pharmacists
- $142,080
- Financial managers
- $137,240
- IT managers
- $129,280
- Lawyers
- $104,150
- Software developers
- $100,440
- Civil engineers
- $97,010
- General & operations managers
- $96,980
- Registered nurses
- $82,300
- Plumbers
- $81,690
- Electricians
- $80,980
- Accountants & auditors
- $75,780
- Police officers
- $72,070
- Secondary school teachers
- $63,550
- Elementary school teachers
- $62,390
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,850
- Carpenters
- $58,950
- Construction laborers
- $49,240
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,840
- Customer service reps
- $44,580
- Janitors
- $37,550
- Retail salespersons
- $35,760
- Cashiers
- $33,120
- Waiters & waitresses
- $22,940
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Billings metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Montana are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Washington754
- Colorado698
- Wyoming603
- Arizona487
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Billings
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Billings metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Billings metro?
- Median gross rent across the Billings, MT Metro Area is $1,170 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Billings.
- What is the median household income in the Billings metro?
- A typical household in the Billings, MT Metro Area earns $77,770 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Billings expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Billings, MT Metro Area runs about 6% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Billings metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $83,153 (versus its face value of $77,770). CityLedger rates the Billings, MT Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Billings metro?
- The median home value across the Billings, MT Metro Area is $383,900 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Billings metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Billings, MT Metro Area is 3.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).