Report: Is Billings ‘Quality of Life’ Better Than Missoula’s?

Montana's population continues to grow. With the growth, affordable housing has become and issue across the state. Renting in Montana has been a topic that has been discussed a lot. The price of rent has been on the rise across the country and across Montana.

Billings and Missoula Make the WalletHub List

According to a report by WalletHub two Montana cities have made the list of "2023's Best & Worst Places to Rent in America". Not surprising the two Montana cities that made the list are Billings and Missoula. According to the report rental prices across the country have increased 6.2% from 2022. The study looked at 21 key metrics in "rental attractiveness and quality of life" in over 180 different rental markets of all sizes.

Rankings That You May Have Predicted

Billings was ranked as the 54th best market for rentals, while Missoula came in at 111, these are out of 182 different markets. There are some rankings that are pretty predictable if you live in Montana. When it comes to "Rental Market and Affordability", Billings breaks the top twenty coming in at number 15. Missoula's rental prices ranking is much higher than Billings coming in at number 40.

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Unexpectedly Low Rankings in Montana

The other ranking may be a bit more surprising to some. When it comes to "Quality of Life", Billings again beats Missoula. This ranking is a bit closer with Billings coming in at 149 and Missoula ranked at 153. When you compare our cities to the rest of the country for "Quality of Life", our cities ranked towards the bottom of the list. When it comes to all of the metrics that were used, on paper this may be true, but I don't think the people that live here would agree.

Let the Debate Rage in Montana

When reports like this are released it is interesting, to me, to see how the experts rank our towns. Is the quality of life in Billings better than that of Missoula? This can be a debate that rages on for years. Will reports like this stop anybody from moving to Montana? Only time will tell.