What salary do you need to live in Missoula, MT?

Missoula housing costs at a glance

Renters in Missoula pay a median $1,242 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $1,021, three bedrooms $1,647, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $7,512 a year.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $466,400. Local median household income is $74,989, so the median home is 6.2× a typical income — high enough that ownership weighs heavily in the score unless income is well above the median.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 96.4 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Missoula has the buying power of roughly $103,686 at national average prices.

Income needed for each grade in Missoula

For two bedrooms, $192,000 is where Missoula turns Comfortable. Below that, $96,000 marks the start of Okay and $48,000 the start of Tight; under $48,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 8% of gross pay.

Royal, the top band, starts at $464,000. At that income rent is 3% of pay and the median home 1.0× income.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Missoula.

What different incomes look like in Missoula

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Tight, with scores from 34 to 41.

In Missoula the table's top salary of $150,000 stops at Okay (58) for two bedrooms; Comfortable starts higher, at $192,000.

Where Missoula falls nationally

Ranked against all 387 metros, Missoula sits 140th on overall price level and 141st on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 45th.

Its nearest neighbors on the rent list are Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL ($1,242) and New Orleans-Metairie, LA ($1,242).

Comparing Missoula with Montana

Compared with Montana as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Missoula is 13% higher ($1,242 vs. $1,099) and the median home is 24% higher ($466,400 vs. $375,800).

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $156,000 — below Missoula's $192,000 line.

Within Montana, the metros closest to Missoula on rent and overall prices are Helena, MT, Billings, MT, and Great Falls, MT. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $165,000, $149,000, and $131,000.

Missoula's median income on the scale

The median household in the metro earns $74,989 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 38, Tight. That falls $117,011 short of the $192,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. For Montana as a whole, the median household income of $72,509 scores 43 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.