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. 

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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. 

Billings Montana
Credit: Ashley, Townsquare Media
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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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