- [Briggs] Are you looking for an affordable
rural Montana town to buy some real estate?
If you said yes, congratulations.
You clicked on the right video.
We've been doing a series of videos
about great rural towns in the United States.
Since that series started, I've gotten a steady stream
of requests for more affordable rural towns.
I guess the problem is when something's considered great,
it also tends to be expensive.
That is just how the world is,
when something's good and most people want it,
it's expensive.
Sort of like a Calvin Klein tuxedo,
goes for around $500 or $600.
And a short-sleeve polyester business suit at Target
goes for 40 bucks.
Today, we're looking at affordable rural towns in Montana
and why they are so affordable.
There's always a reason.
And the reasons are rarely good.
All right, get it, got it. Good.
Let's take a look. (number buzzing)
Number five, Darby, Montana.
Darby's a small rural town in Western Montana,
not too far from the Idaho border,
and about an hour south from Missoula, Montana.
This is an interesting place that has a downtown
that's still rocking that Old West vibe.
Seriously, parts of the downtown
look like a scene from an Old West movie.
In reality, this isn't very unusual for Montana,
or Wyoming for that matter.
They're very proud of their Old West history.
Not only does it look like a movie set in some areas,
they've actually filmed a lot of things here.
In 1989, the movie "Disorganized Crime"
was filmed in Darby, Hamilton, and Missoula.
And the series "Yellowstone," that's been filmed.
That's a great series by the way, if you haven't seen it,
but that's filmed at the Chief Joseph Ranch,
which is just south of downtown Darby.
Darby has a population of almost 700 people.
Now, here's, I'm gonna get into the good and the bad here.
First of all, Internet in Montana,
it's not the best in a lot of areas,
but they do get Starlink
and I've heard great things about it.
So we're gonna kind of exclude the Internet process
from this video, 'cause Montana seems to have it down pat
when it comes to Starlink.
All right, moving on.
Here's the good about Darby.
The cost of living and real estate both get a thumbs up.
Overall, the cost living here is 6% lower
than the national average.
Homes start around 450,000.
But it's hard to find one
that doesn't come with a few acres.
So if you're looking for just a house
with a front yard and a backyard,
it might be a little expensive.
If you're looking for a place with some property,
this is pretty cheap.
Now, granted, you know, you get 20 acres,
it's gonna get up into the million dollars,
but you could find two acres and just an acre,
and it's relatively inexpensive.
Here's the bad.
Crime, poverty, income, healthcare all get thumbs down.
The total crime rate here is 52% above the national average.
31.5% of the population live below the poverty line.
And the median household income is $26,429 a year.
That's 52% lower than the national average.
They don't have any hospital or urgent care in town.
They do have like a clinic that's got limited hours.
If you need a hospital, they got one up in Hamilton,
which is about 20 minutes north.
But if you need anything beyond what they could do,
you got about an hour ride up to Missoula.
(number buzzing)
Number four, Dutton, Montana.
Dutton is a rural town
in the flat part of Northwestern Montana.
It sits between Great Falls and Shelby.
And it's a great place to live
if you want to get away from it all.
All being traffic, crowds, smog, and shopping malls,
things like that.
The population sat around 300 in the 2020 census.
Dutton is considered the wheat capital of Montana.
And it's located in what is known
as the Golden Triangle region.
Sounds ominous.
I mean, I get it has to do with wheat,
but the Golden Triangle?
Ever since the Bermuda Triangle,
anything you throw triangle onto, it sounds kind of weird.
Here's the bad.
Crime, poverty, income, healthcare, all get thumbs downs.
Their crime rate is 52% above the national average.
16.7% of their population lives below the poverty line.
The only healthcare they got is 25 minutes to the west,
and it's a small medical center with an emergency room,
so that's good.
Anything else you need, you gotta go up to Great Falls,
where they got a legit hospital
and that's like 40 minutes away.
Now, the good part about Dutton.
Household income, cost of living, real estate,
all get thumbs up.
41,000 is the household income.
Now, that doesn't sound like much in most of the country,
but here with such a low cost of living, it's pretty good.
The cost of living here is 20% lower
than the national average.
When you look at real estate,
most pieces of property in town that are for sale now
or that have sold in the last year, I'd say,
are around 200,000 or below.
They got one that's for sale right now for 135,000,
one that's 200,000.
And then you start getting up into the places
that have some property,
and those go for about 600,000 and up.
Dutton doesn't have the greatest crime stats
and some other things,
but really their cost of living and their real estate prices
kind of overshadows the bad.
(number buzzing)
Number three, Cascade, Montana.
Cascade is a small rural town
that sits on the bank of the Missouri River,
about 30 minutes southwest of Great Falls.
If you like to fish, this is a solid option.
The Missouri River is huge here.
You know, you get to some areas
where the river gets kind of small.
It's a good size here. Plenty of places to fish.
And like all of Montana,
this is also a great area to hunt pheasant,
whatever you wanna do.
After that, there isn't a whole bunch to do.
They do have a community pool, which is nice.
You know, reality, I like seeing small communities
that have things like, say, a pool or a skate park.
That normally indicates that the local leaders
are doing a decent job.
Communities need things like that
for a whole bunch of different reasons.
Sometimes you get local leaders, mayor, city council,
whatever, and they only think of costs and efficiency.
And really, a pool or a skate park don't do much
for the city's financials.
I mean, on a spreadsheet, it doesn't look good.
About 700 people call Cascade home.
And here's the bad.
Both healthcare and crime get a thumbs down.
Their total crime rate is 43% higher
than the national average, which is great.
When it comes to healthcare,
they don't have anything in town.
Anything you need done
is gonna have to go up to Great Falls,
around 30 minutes away.
Now let's take a look at the good.
Cost of living, household income, poverty rate,
and real estate are all really good here.
And they all get a thumbs up.
The cost of living is 14% below the national average.
The median household income is $39,554,
which is lower than the national average.
But the cost of living here is so cheap, it's pretty good.
Only 13.4% of the population here
lives below the poverty line,
which is almost 2% lower than the national average.
That's great.
Now, when it comes to real estate,
this one's a little strange
because they're a little bit expensive, in my opinion,
but they're also right on the river.
One, you have an old bank building right now
going for $549,000.
It's huge, it's a beautiful building,
and it's walking distance to the Missouri River.
They also have another one that's going for 399,000.
Again, walking distance to the river.
It's brand new.
That's not bad for $399,000.
I know a lot of people think of an affordable home
is under 200,000.
But when it's nice and it's under 500,000, it's pretty good.
This is definitely not a bad place to live
if you can get past the crime rate
and you don't have any major health concerns.
(number buzzing)
Number two, Simms, Montana.
Simms sits about 30 minutes west of Great Falls
on the Sun River.
This is a very small rural town of about 400.
It is laid out how a town should be.
All the official buildings, schools,
post office, things like that
are in the center of town with the homes surrounding it.
As towns turn into cities,
the concept gets a little harder to maintain,
but theoretically, this is how cities should be planned.
At least that's what they told me in college,
but they also told me not to come to class hungover anymore.
Now here's the good about Simms.
The cost of living, median household income,
and real estate all get a thumbs up in Simms.
The overall cost of living here is 15% lower
than the national average.
Median household income is $44,531 a year,
which is lower than the national average a little bit,
but in a place with such a low cost of living,
that's pretty good money.
And their real estate,
they don't have a lot for sale right now.
Actually they only have one, it's going for 225,000.
And that seems to be the price point for this place
in general.
Last year, they sold some homes.
And in 2020, they sold some homes
right around that same area.
Let's take a look at the bad.
Crime and poverty both get a thumbs down here.
Their crime rate is 48% higher than the national average.
I don't know if they factored in the teen
who was just arrested recently
for threatening the entire school on social media.
That's not good.
But anyway, their crime rate
is almost 50% higher than the national average.
When you look at the poverty in Simms,
19.2% of the population lives below the poverty line.
That's not terrible.
It's 4% higher than the national average.
All in all, Simms isn't a bad place to live.
Looks like a very nice, quiet community.
This town was built on a low spot in the Sun River Valley
and was named after Simms Creek,
which flows into the Sun River, about a mile west of town.
All right, before we get to number one,
don't forget we have another channel called "On this day."
There is a link down below.
Love it if you went over there and watched some videos.
Don't forget to give this video a big thumbs up too.
All right, on to number one.
(number buzzing)
And number one, Ronan, Montana.
Ronan, Montana sits on the Flathead Indian Reservation,
about 20 minutes south of Flathead Lake.
This is up in the northwest section of Montana.
This whole area sits in a valley, and it's beautiful.
I've been here before.
Well, not to Ronan, but in the towns around there
and to Flathead Lake, this is amazing land.
Winter might get a little harsh.
I've been there in the summer and it was beautiful.
Ronan has a population of almost 2,000,
and it's not a bad place to live.
They got more good than bad here.
Here's the good.
Cost of living, real estate, poverty level, and healthcare
all get a thumbs up.
The overall cost of living here
is 14% below the national average.
Their real estate is pretty good.
They have a lot to choose from
and it's not terribly expensive.
Most any home here is gonna be
between $300,000 and $400,000.
Normally around 350.
They do have some places that go for about 220.
They have some really nice places
that start off around 500,000 and go up.
There's probably 10 places for sale right now.
So you have a lot to choose from.
If you want to go on the outside of town in the rural areas,
that's where you're gonna find places over 500,000.
But in town, you're looking at 350,000 to 400,000,
with the occasional place around 200,000,
250,000 popping up.
The median household income here
is $37,625 a year.
That is not bad for a place with decent real estate
and a low cost of living.
One thing I want to mention about the real estate in Ronan,
it is on an Indian reservation.
So there are some different rules and laws that apply
to owning real estate on the reservation.
So any real estate agent is gonna be able
to tell you all about that.
So make sure you pay attention to what they say.
And they even got a good-sized hospital inside town.
It's called St. Luke's, emergency room, all the good stuff.
This is a pretty good-sized facility
for a town of barely 2,000.
And here's the bad.
Their crime rate, it gets a big thumbs down.
Their total crime rate is 71% higher
than the national average.
Their violent crime rate,
which we haven't really talked about on this list,
it's 141% above the national average.
Good thing they got an emergency room in town.
If you can get past the high crime rate
and high violent crime rate,
Ronan's not a bad place to live,
especially if you into outdoor activities,
fishing, hiking, camping,
all that good stuff is right there for you.
All right, that's today's video.
Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Hope you got some information out of it.
Now go out, have a great day.
Be nice to each other.