Housing
A place to live. A future to build.
A home should be the foundation for a family’s future. Not the thing that puts that future out of reach.
A paycheck.
A shrinking choice.
Behind every housing statistic is a family deciding what it can afford. Here is a closer look at the gap between Montana paychecks and a place to call home.
Choose an income level to see how much of the listed housing market was within reach.
What can a paycheck reach?
Montana homes listed for sale · March 2025
%
of listings affordable at $75,000 household income
You found island mode.
*The full bar is just for fun, not a measured share of affordable Montana listings.
Modeled price ceiling$260,920
Change the income to compare. This is a historical affordability model, not a live inventory search or a loan qualification estimate.
Source: NAR / Realtor.com, May 2025 state report. Share of March 2025 listings within the report’s modeled price ceiling.
Illustrative income: ~$14.6M/year, plus $14.4 million down. The illustrative payment is about $364,071 a month for principal and interest alone. This does not establish an income that can buy 100% of Montana listings.
Price reference: Hall and Hall, May 7, 2026, describing the $72 million Cromwell Island offering as Montana’s most expensive home listing; also displayed on the broker’s Montana listings page when checked September 21, 2026. Asking prices and availability can change.
How the island estimate works
Our illustration assumes 20% down, a $57.6 million loan, a 30-year term and a hypothetical fixed 6.5% annual interest rate. Annual gross income is modeled so principal and interest equal 30% of income. The result is $14,562,847 a year, rounded to $14.6 million.
Monthly principal and interest = L × r ÷ [1 − (1 + r)−360], where L is $57,600,000 and r is 0.065 ÷ 12. Annual income = monthly payment × 12 ÷ 0.30.
This is not NAR’s March 2025 model, a lending offer or an underwriting threshold. It excludes property taxes, insurance, closing costs, upkeep and construction completion. The broker’s property description states cash at closing and describes the main villa as unfinished. Financing on these terms has not been verified. Total ownership costs would require a larger budget.
See the six research income levels
| Income | Share | Price ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | 4.3% | $173,950 |
| $75,000 | 11.1% | $260,920 |
| $100,000 | 19.3% | $347,890 |
| $125,000 | 31.0% | $434,870 |
| $150,000 | 41.8% | $521,840 |
| $200,000 | 60.8% | $695,790 |
Home values jumped.
Wages didn’t keep up.
The affordability squeeze did not happen overnight. During the pandemic-era surge, Montana home values rose far faster than hourly pay.
That gap helps explain why working hard and saving money can still feel like falling behind.
Source: Montana Department of Labor & Industry, October 2022. Both changes cover the same two-year period; earnings are average private-sector hourly pay, not household income.
Rent takes more.
Life gets less.
At Montana’s estimated mean renter wage, one full-time worker’s affordable rent budget falls well short of the two-bedroom benchmark.
That leaves less room for groceries, child care, transportation and the savings that help a family get ahead.
before anything else
Source: NLIHC, Out of Reach 2026: Montana. The $546 gap is $1,558 minus $1,012. Fair Market Rent is a gross-rent benchmark including utilities, not the statewide average asking rent.
What “affordable” means here
Housing costs no more than 30% of gross income. The report estimates a mean renter wage of $19.47 an hour, compared with the $29.97 hourly wage needed for the two-bedroom benchmark. This comparison assumes one worker, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. Household earnings and actual rents vary.
Not just one town.
A Montana challenge.
Housing pressure looks different across the state. But every Montana community shown here exceeds the 30% affordability benchmark in this new-buyer model.
In Billings, the modeled cost of buying a median-priced home takes 44% of median household income.
September 2025 snapshot · 10% down payment
Vertical line marks the 30% affordability benchmark
Source: Montana economic presentation, Minneapolis Fed conference, January 2026, using September 2025 Atlanta Fed data. Modeled ownership costs for a new buyer, not actual payments of every existing homeowner.
The path into a first home
has narrowed in Billings.
City-assisted home purchases fell sharply before recovering in the latest reported year. Fourteen households reached the finish line in 2025–26, up from four the year before, but still well below 61 in 2020–21.
Completed program-assisted purchases. Not all home sales, and not an applicant approval rate. Fiscal years run July through June.
Sources: City of Billings 2024–25 CAPER and 2025–26 CAPER.
Read the figures and reporting caveat
| Fiscal year | Households |
|---|---|
| 2020–21 | 61 |
| 2021–22 | 27 |
| 2022–23 | 7 |
| 2023–24 | 8 |
| 2024–25 | 4 |
| 2025–26 | 14 |
The latest published CAPER repeatedly reports 14 assisted households. Its funding-source breakdown is inconsistent in one narrative passage. We use the repeated total, not that conflicting breakdown. Final HUD acceptance had not been verified as of September 21, 2026.
Progress is possible.
Keep the focus on homes.
Montana’s March 2026 ARPA housing evaluation reports support for 746 affordable housing units across 11 projects in eight counties.
That includes both new homes and existing homes rehabilitated. It is real progress to recognize, without pretending the affordability problem is solved.
746total units supported
623New units
123Rehabilitated units
Source: Montana ARPA housing evaluation, March 6, 2026. The program provided $15 million in gap financing alongside other funding. That is not the total cost of the projects, and not all 746 units are new construction.
Families are the point.
Whatever the argument in Helena, we cannot lose sight of the people trying to build a life here. Our focus is a Montana where families can put down roots, stay in their communities and plan for tomorrow.
Research reviewed September 21, 2026. Figures retain their original reporting periods. These are different measures of the housing problem, not one combined dataset or a forecast.
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