Best Cities in Montana for Schools

Welcome to SchoolDigger, your premier source for city-wide school rankings! Our user-friendly platform focuses on test scores, presenting a transparent, data-driven comparison to help you navigate the educational scene. Explore top-rated cities in Montana and make informed decisions for your child's academic future. With our comprehensive database, uncover the best-performing schools within each city, evaluate their performance, and gain valuable insights. Trust SchoolDigger.com to guide you in finding the perfect city for your child's education. Embark on your journey to academic success right here!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Montana test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the test scores by the Montana Office of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Friday, April 5, 2024.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

Rank (of 179)	City	# Elementary Schools	# Middle Schools	# High Schools	# Private Schools*	Rank score (2023)	Rank (2022)	Rank change from 2022
1^st	Hall	1	0	0	0	0.994	1
2^nd	Avon	1	0	0	0	0.967	2
3^rd	Sun River	1	0	0	0	0.961	141	138
4^th	Canyon Creek	1	0	0	0	0.949	7	3
5^th	Manhattan	2	1	1	1	0.944	11	6
6^th	Bozeman	15	5	2	15	0.908	9	3
7^th	Lakeside	1	0	0	0	0.892	8	1
8^th	Plevna	1	1	1	0	0.886	96	88
9^th	Zurich	1	0	0	0	0.886	5	4
10^th	Fort Benton	1	1	1	0	0.884	28	18
11^th	Rudyard	1	1	1	0	0.873	30	19
12^th	Somers	0	1	0	0	0.872	6	6
13^th	Whitefish	2	2	1	1	0.871	38	25
14^th	Cardwell	1	0	0	0	0.843	12	2
15^th	Wilsall	1	0	0	0	0.84	45	30
16^th	Ennis	1	1	1	0	0.839	35	19
17^th	Highwood	1	1	1	0	0.837	10	7
18^th	Kinsey	1	0	0	0	0.834	33	15
19^th	Jordan	2	1	1	0	0.825	29	10
20^th	Twin Bridges	1	1	1	0	0.823	20
21^st	Ovando	1	0	0	0	0.822		(n/a)
22^nd	Wibaux	1	1	1	0	0.814	109	87
23^rd	West Glacier	1	0	0	0	0.813	3	20
24^th	Augusta	1	1	1	0	0.811	40	16
25^th	Gallatin Gateway	2	2	1	0	0.81	13	12
26^th	Clancy	2	2	0	0	0.803	17	9
27^th	Vida	1	0	0	0	0.798	61	34
28^th	Fort Shaw	1	0	0	1	0.777	16	12
29^th	Sheridan	1	1	1	0	0.775	50	21
30^th	Glen	1	0	0	0	0.774	42	12
31^st	Missoula	13	7	3	13	0.772	27	4
32^nd	Chester	3	1	1	0	0.772		(n/a)
33^rd	Fairfield	3	2	1	1	0.765	44	11
34^th	Belt	2	1	1	0	0.76	22	12
35^th	Circle	1	2	1	0	0.758	60	25
36^th	Dillon	2	1	1	0	0.749	26	10
37^th	Belgrade	5	1	1	1	0.735	36	1
38^th	Scobey	1	1	1	1	0.726	85	47
39^th	Power	2	1	1	0	0.708	23	16
40^th	Froid	1	1	1	0	0.695	87	47
41^st	Clinton	1	1	0	0	0.693	39	2
42^nd	Broadview	1	1	1	0	0.687	19	23
43^rd	Gardiner	1	1	1	0	0.687	15	28
44^th	Cascade	1	1	1	0	0.685	18	26
45^th	Charlo	1	1	1	0	0.685	31	14
46^th	Red Lodge	1	1	1	0	0.685	46
47^th	Drummond	1	1	1	0	0.675	25	22
48^th	Lincoln	1	1	1	0	0.673	53	5
49^th	Columbus	1	1	1	0	0.668	34	15
50^th	Helena	11	2	2	7	0.646	54	4
51^st	Melville	1	0	0	0	0.645	55	4
52^nd	Clyde Park	0	1	1	0	0.627	21	31
53^rd	Bainville	1	1	1	0	0.627	82	29
54^th	Kila	1	1	0	0	0.626	41	13
55^th	Whitehall	1	1	1	0	0.626	118	63
56^th	Hobson	1	1	1	0	0.625	99	43
57^th	Kalispell	13	7	2	10	0.623	63	6
58^th	Libby	1	1	1	2	0.622	90	32
59^th	Gildford	2	0	0	0	0.611	58	1
60^th	Shepherd	1	1	1	0	0.607	88	28
61^st	Bonner	2	2	0	0	0.602	116	55
62^nd	Forsyth	1	1	1	1	0.598	73	11
63^rd	Winifred	1	1	1	0	0.595	24	39
64^th	Thompson Falls	1	1	1	4	0.592	59	5
65^th	Moore	1	1	1	2	0.589	14	51
66^th	Boulder	1	1	1	0	0.586	48	18
67^th	Hamilton	2	1	1	3	0.583	43	24
68^th	Frenchtown	2	1	1	0	0.58	77	9
69^th	Plentywood	1	1	1	0	0.578	32	37
70^th	Sidney	4	1	1	1	0.578	78	8
71^st	Butte	6	1	1	4	0.576	86	15
72^nd	Columbia Falls	3	2	1	1	0.575	52	20
73^rd	Custer	1	1	1	0	0.574	151	78
74^th	Livingston	3	2	1	3	0.571	47	27
75^th	Troy	3	1	1	1	0.564	102	27
76^th	Condon	1	1	0	0	0.56	140	64
77^th	Geraldine	1	1	1	0	0.56		(n/a)
78^th	Ulm	2	1	0	0	0.558	106	28
79^th	Bigfork	2	2	1	0	0.546	49	30
80^th	Choteau	1	1	1	0	0.543	67	13
81^st	Townsend	1	1	1	0	0.54	65	16
82^nd	Joliet	1	1	1	0	0.537	76	6
83^rd	Lewistown	5	2	1	0	0.515	100	17
84^th	Eureka	1	1	1	1	0.513	51	33
85^th	Roundup	1	1	1	1	0.513	125	40
86^th	Florence	1	1	1	0	0.513	104	18
87^th	Malta	1	1	1	0	0.504	70	17
88^th	Big Timber	2	1	1	0	0.489	37	51
89^th	Plains	2	2	1	0	0.486	81	8
90^th	Savage	1	1	1	0	0.485	56	34
91^st	Absarokee	1	1	1	0	0.485	117	26
92^nd	Stevensville	2	2	1	0	0.481	127	35
93^rd	Polson	3	1	1	2	0.466	98	5
94^th	Conrad	3	2	1	0	0.465	103	9
95^th	Dayton	1	0	0	0	0.464	68	27
96^th	Simms	0	1	1	0	0.453	122	26
97^th	Baker	2	1	1	0	0.446	101	4
98^th	Ramsay	1	1	0	0	0.443	129	31
99^th	Rapelje	1	1	1	0	0.441		(n/a)
100^th	Great Falls	17	2	3	7	0.438	97	3
101^st	Billings	34	12	4	14	0.435	110	9
102^nd	Havre	6	1	1	1	0.431	84	18
103^rd	Pray	1	1	0	0	0.431	107	4
104^th	Fairview	1	1	1	0	0.426	119	15
105^th	Corvallis	1	2	1	0	0.421	62	43
106^th	Dutton	1	1	1	0	0.419	95	11
107^th	Three Forks	1	1	1	0	0.418	89	18
108^th	Seeley Lake	1	1	1	0	0.416	115	7
109^th	Lolo	2	2	0	0	0.407	93	16
110^th	Sand Coulee	3	1	1	0	0.398	74	36
111^th	Terry	1	1	1	0	0.395	105	6
112^th	Fortine	1	1	0	0	0.392	79	33
113^th	White Sulphur Springs	2	2	1	0	0.388	133	20
114^th	Superior	1	1	1	0	0.384	137	23
115^th	Glasgow	1	2	1	0	0.373	83	32
116^th	Park City	1	1	1	0	0.37	144	28
117^th	Vaughn	1	1	0	0	0.367	154	37
118^th	Harlowton	2	2	1	1	0.357		(n/a)
119^th	Philipsburg	1	1	1	0	0.355	64	55
120^th	Bridger	1	1	1	0	0.353	69	51
121^st	Deer Lodge	1	1	1	0	0.348	66	55
122^nd	Laurel	3	1	1	0	0.346	124	2
123^rd	Ekalaka	1	1	1	0	0.334	108	15
124^th	Glendive	3	1	1	1	0.321	128	4
125^th	Stanford	2	1	1	1	0.314	138	13
126^th	Elliston	1	0	0	0	0.313	71	55
127^th	St Ignatius	1	1	1	0	0.309	145	18
128^th	Richey	1	1	1	0	0.307	134	6
129^th	Hot Springs	1	1	1	0	0.305	112	17
130^th	Noxon	1	1	1	0	0.303	158	28
131^st	Frazer	2	1	1	0	0.3	131
132^nd	Worden	1	1	1	0	0.297	111	21
133^rd	Medicine Lake	1	1	1	0	0.292	72	61
134^th	Broadus	1	1	1	0	0.288	80	54
135^th	Victor	1	1	1	0	0.283	164	29
136^th	Darby	1	1	1	0	0.278	135	1
137^th	Grass Range	2	1	1	0	0.251	94	43
138^th	Trout Creek	1	1	0	1	0.246	126	12
139^th	Fromberg	1	1	1	0	0.245	121	18
140^th	Shelby	3	1	1	0	0.238	139	1
141^st	Marion	2	1	0	1	0.238	123	18
142^nd	Anaconda	2	1	1	0	0.233	142
143^rd	Colstrip	1	1	1	0	0.233	143
144^th	Miles City	7	2	2	2	0.23	130	14
145^th	Nashua	1	1	1	0	0.222	114	31
146^th	Ronan	1	1	1	1	0.218	152	6
147^th	Cut Bank	9	1	1	0	0.217	146	1
148^th	Big Sandy	2	2	1	0	0.215	57	91
149^th	Culbertson	1	1	1	0	0.205	153	4
150^th	West Yellowstone	1	1	1	0	0.201	120	30
151^st	Galata	3	0	0	0	0.194		(n/a)
152^nd	Chinook	3	1	1	0	0.176	132	20
153^rd	Lavina	1	1	1	0	0.169	113	40
154^th	Valier	3	1	1	0	0.161	148	6
155^th	Lambert	1	1	1	0	0.152	147	8
156^th	Pablo	1	0	1	0	0.142	156
157^th	Roberts	1	1	1	0	0.137	157
158^th	Dixon	1	1	0	0	0.136	136	22
159^th	Alberton	1	1	1	1	0.132	159
160^th	Wolf Point	2	3	1	0	0.121	150	10
161^st	Arlee	1	1	1	1	0.116	155	6
162^nd	E Glacier Park	1	0	0	0	0.096	161	1
163^rd	Ashland	1	1	0	1	0.094	171	8
164^th	Bynum	1	0	0	0	0.093	149	15
165^th	Hardin	2	1	1	1	0.089	160	5
166^th	Harlem	2	1	1	1	0.088	168	2
167^th	Hays	1	1	1	1	0.082	163	4
168^th	Box Elder	2	2	2	0	0.077	165	3
169^th	Dodson	1	1	1	0	0.055	162	7
170^th	Babb	1	0	0	0	0.051		(n/a)
171^st	Poplar	1	2	1	0	0.044	169	2
172^nd	Crow Agency	1	0	0	0	0.042	173	1
173^rd	Pryor	1	1	1	1	0.03	178	5
174^th	Browning	3	1	1	2	0.029	174
175^th	Brockton	1	1	1	0	0.024	167	8
176^th	Lame Deer	1	1	1	0	0.013	175	1
177^th	Lodge Grass	1	1	1	0	0.012	177
178^th	Heart Butte	1	1	1	0	0.012	176	2
179^th	Dupuyer	1	0	0	0	0.006	172	7

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About our rankings:

* Private schools are not used in determining city rank.
Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on test scores released by the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on April 5, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Montana Office of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Montana Office of Public Instruction.