How much do households in Montana spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
About $1K per month, or 26.8% of their income, in 2022. This is measured by comparing median rent and median monthly income for renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was
26.8%
of median income
In 2022,
$1K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates it’s more affordable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
Montana's rent-to-income ratio was lower than in the US overall in 2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income
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The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In Montana, the rent-to-income ratio reached 28.5% that year. Most recently, in 2022, Montana’s rent-to-income ratio was 26.8%, 4.9 percentage points lower than the national rate.
Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico area at 56.9% (highest) and Sheboygan, Wisconsin area at 21.7% (lowest). In Montana, the highest and lowest were Billings at 29.1% and Great Falls at 26.2%.
During that period, the Missoula, MT area had the highest median rent at $1.07K per month and the highest median monthly income at $3.68K out of three Montana metro areas. Its rent-to-income ratio was the second highest in the state.
Renter income and rent, Montana metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Billings, MT area | $3,593 |
| 2. | Great Falls, MT area | $3,300 |
| 3. | Missoula, MT area | $3,684 |
