Montana County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 56 counties in Montana, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Montana county scores 28.3. 4 counties score high, very high, or extreme.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts | Scores as of Aug 2026
Montana Snapshot
56 Counties Scored
28.3 Mean Score
21.9 Median Score
90 Glacier County Most Distressed
1 Jefferson County Least Distressed
1 extreme county distress3 high county distress2 moderate-high county distress3 moderate county distress3 moderate-low county distress7 low-moderate county distress12 low county distress18 very low county distress7 exceptionally low county distress
Score Label Distribution Montana County Map
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Low county distress Moderate-low county distress Moderate county distress High county distress Extreme county distress
All 56 Montana counties colored by county distress score range. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How Montana's 56 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Montana Counties
56 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Glacier County | 90 | extreme county distress | Labor |
| 2 | — | Big Horn County | 77 | high county distress | Labor |
| 3 | — | Roosevelt County | 73 | high county distress | Labor |
| 4 | — | Musselshell County | 71 | high county distress | Labor |
| 5 | — | Sanders County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 6 | — | Rosebud County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 7 | — | Lincoln County | 56 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 8 | — | Blaine County | 54 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 9 | — | Silver Bow County | 52 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 10 | — | Wheatland County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 11 | — | Mineral County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 12 | — | Lake County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 13 | — | Custer County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 14 | — | Hill County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 15 | — | Deer Lodge County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 16 | — | Cascade County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 17 | — | Pondera County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 18 | — | Golden Valley County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 19 | — | Chouteau County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 20 | — | Sheridan County | 27 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 21 | — | Ravalli County | 26 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 22 | — | Yellowstone County | 26 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 23 | — | Madison County | 26 | low county distress | Labor |
| 24 | — | Granite County | 25 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 25 | — | Petroleum County | 24 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 26 | — | Garfield County | 23 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 27 | — | Phillips County | 23 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 28 | — | Toole County | 22 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 29 | — | Flathead County | 21 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 30 | — | Powell County | 20 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 31 | — | Liberty County | 20 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 32 | — | Missoula County | 19 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Wibaux County | 19 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 34 | — | Fergus County | 16 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 35 | — | Dawson County | 15 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 36 | — | Broadwater County | 14 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 37 | — | McCone County | 14 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 38 | — | Teton County | 14 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | Treasure County | 14 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 40 | — | Carter County | 14 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 41 | — | Beaverhead County | 13 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 42 | — | Meagher County | 13 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 43 | — | Prairie County | 13 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 44 | — | Lewis and Clark County | 12 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 45 | — | Judith Basin County | 11 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 46 | — | Richland County | 11 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 47 | — | Park County | 11 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 48 | — | Valley County | 11 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 49 | — | Carbon County | 10 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 50 | — | Gallatin County | 9 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 51 | — | Powder River County | 7 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 52 | — | Fallon County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 53 | — | Sweet Grass County | 5 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 54 | — | Daniels County | 5 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 55 | 3,078 | Stillwater County | 2 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 56 | 3,100 | Jefferson County | 1 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using five equal-weighted domains. Each domain averages its member indicators' county ranks, the domains are averaged, and that average is ranked against every U.S. county. So a county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than. National ranks are shown only for the 100 most and 100 least distressed counties, because ranks in between move between updates. Counties with identical composite scores share a rank, marked T- for tied.
extreme county distress — 1 Montana county
very high county distress — 0 Montana counties
high county distress — 3 Montana counties
moderate-high county distress — 2 Montana counties
moderate county distress — 3 Montana counties
moderate-low county distress — 3 Montana counties
low-moderate county distress — 7 Montana counties
low county distress — 12 Montana counties
very low county distress — 18 Montana counties
exceptionally low county distress — 7 Montana counties