The Ranking of Fun in America Includes Two Montana Cities

When I think of having fun in Montana, I don't normally think of being in one of Montana's cities. Fun in Montana usually means jumping in a lake, or skiing down the side of a mountain, riding a horse through tall grass, mountain biking over rocks, fishing in a stream or river, four-wheeling on dirt roads, and snowmobiling in the winter.

Other people's definition of fun usually means entertainment—things like concerts and restaurants. A new study from WalletHub has listed the cities in America that are the most fun. Las Vegas is of course #1, but two Montana cities make the list.

The city with the highest ranking in Montana for being fun makes sense to me. But the second city is a bit of a head-scratcher. Spoiler: Missoula is on the list. Missoula is a college town and it has a robust music scene, so it makes sense that it would be on the list. But because it’s a college town and has a hip music scene, you would think that the second city on the list is Bozeman because it has those things too. But it's not.

Credit: Ashley, Townsquare Media

The other city is Billings. It may be that Billings ends up on a list like this because of its ability to draw big music acts to MetraPark. Maybe it's because Billings is a family-friendly city. But I don't think Billings is a town that necessarily comes to mind when you think of fun.

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The 182 cities in this study were ranked on Entertainment and Recreation as one category, Nightlife and Parties as a second, and Costs as a third. This is how Missoula and Billings ranked:

Missoula

Overall: 83
Entertainment and Recreation: 84
Nightlife and Parties: 82
Costs: 75

Billings

Overall: 98
Entertainment and Recreation: 116
Nightlife and Parties: 89
Costs: 69

Both towns ranked higher than these cities (among other places):

Anchorage, Alaska
Spokane, Washington
Jersey City, New Jersey
Pearl City, Hawaii

Missoula and Billings sort of fell in the middle of this study, but the fact that they are included at all is interesting.

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Gallery Credit: Ashley