No Longer the Best? Montana Has Fallen Off Another Popular List

It looks like Montana doesn't appear on another popular list, and while this may be a reason to rejoice, it may also be a reason for concern.

Back in January, a trend started to appear. We noticed that Montana had fallen off some popular lists like the "hottest housing markets of 2024,"places where people are moving to most," and the "best cities for an active lifestyle."

READ MORE: There Are Only 2 States Where It's Harder to Buy a House Than in Montana Right Now

This may be a relief to many Montanans. But not having a Montana city show up on the "best cities for an active lifestyle" might be a similar indicator to the one that follows.

Money put out its "Best Places to Live 2024" and they describe the criteria:

...where a thriving economy meets affordability, diversity, and an exceptional quality of life. - Money.com

There aren't any Montana cities on the list, but it's the kind of list that might have had a Montana city or two in the past. Let's breakdown the criteria:

Affordability: We already know this is a challenge in Montana because studies showing how difficult it is to buy a house in Montana right now. We also just learned that Montana has a high cost of living compared to other states.

Diversity: We looked at this recently and learned again that, perhaps unsurprisingly, Montana isn't very diverse.

Quality of Life: While it's a bit more abstract, this might be one place where Montana could and should rank high because of the access to the outdoors and National Parks, the thriving arts and music scenes, etc.

But the cities that do appear on the list boast qualities like:

• "cultural epicenter"
• "foodie paradise"
• "sustainable and self-sufficient"
• "unspoiled by sprawl"
• (or more simply) "has jobs"

Opinion: It seems that not having a single Montana city on the "Best Places to Live 2024" indicates that it could (and maybe needs to) be better for those already here.