The forever tug and pull of work and life is something we all wish to keep in balance. This is why when you’re looking for that ideal place to live and work, Movoto Real Estate wants to help. In this blog post, we will focus on Montana and the work-life balance in three of its largest cities. Big Sky country is filled with great landscapes to play in and visit, but do people actually live and work in this gorgeous state? Of course they do, and in fact, Montanans consider themselves some of the most satisfied residents in the United States. Even still, the work-life balance can vary from city to city so let us take a look at what Montana cities are like when it comes to work and life.
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Montana ranks 44th in population out of all 50 states and is often referred to as one small town with really long roads. Small towns in Montana often excel on the lifestyle side of the work-life balance, but can lack in the area of employment. The reason is simple, there are not as many career choices available to you in small towns. If you are looking for a great career and still want that small town Montana feel, you might have to travel some very long, small town roads. This is why, in this post, we have chosen three of the largest cities in Montana and we’ll let you decide whether living in the city or its surrounding area, is best for your work-life balance.
Billings is the largest city in Montana with a population around 108,000 and the only city with a population over 100,000. Its size is due to the central railroad hub in its geographic area that serves over a half million people. Billings is also an energy center with some of the largest reserves of coal in the United States. Because of its active trade markets, Billings offers a wide variety of careers.
The cost of living is slightly higher than the average in the United States, which makes it a little disadvantageous for residents, but the many outdoor destinations and cultural events make up for it in the long run. Enjoy the great outdoors by skiing, hunting, fishing, and boating at nearby mountains, rivers, and lakes which are a benefit for most Montana cities. What is not always found in Montana towns is the ability to enjoy cultural attractions like the zoo, a downtown historic district, the Yellowstone Art Museum and other larger town conveniences.
Overall Billings work-life balance tips slightly towards work and a little less towards lifestyle, but only by a bit. We give it a 55/45 ratio when it comes to work and life.
Source: wikimedia.org
If you are looking into the 2nd largest city in Montana, Missoula, be prepared for some truly western culture living where residents enjoy the outdoors, farmer’s markets, western brewed beer, and an array of cultural events that bring the community together.
It is essentially a college town and most of its economic development today comes from its University and the industry surrounding it. This makes Missoula’s career choices slightly restricted, but with a good retail sector supporting tourism and the University there are plenty of jobs to go around. The unemployment rate has dropped .8% in a twelve-month period and sits somewhere around 3.5% at the time of this writing.
Missoula is considered the cultural center of Montana as it hosts events such as the River City Roots Festival that brings beer, food, and art together along with crowds of 15,000 or more and boasts a large farmers market every Saturday from May to October. Fly fishing has become a large attraction to the area as it was the filming location for the film A River Runs Through It. Missoula may be tipping towards the lifestyle side of work-life balance with as we’ve given it a 55/45 score for work and life. To summarize it has plenty of western cultural activities and an abundance of outdoor fun, but it mostly hinges on the industry sparked from the local university and tourism.
Source: wikimedia.org
Bozeman is just about as perfect as you can get to a work-life balance in Montana. Its economy mostly stems from a large tourism base and it is also a college town. Most employers are small businesses that support the Big Sky Ski Resort area and Yellowstone Tourism. People care for local businesses and it has that small ski and college town feel where you can see college kids biking through campus and ski bums waiting for the Park and Ride bus to the local resort.
It is a resort town, so the cost of living is slightly higher than average and although jobs may be easily found, good paying careers are usually created by those willing to start their own businesses. It is a very entrepreneurial community where most people run or help to run startups and small businesses, but there is a growing base of larger companies coming into the community such as Oracle, Pepsi, and Zoot. Overall Bozeman has the greatest work-life experience in Montana as it has a community that supports small business and world-class recreation national parks to play in.
The three cities listed are some of the more popular cities to live and work in Montana, but Montana is really about small town living. It may mean a longer drive to a city like Billings, Missoula, or Bozeman, but the small town feel in Montana can’t be beaten, so don’t forget to look into the surrounding small towns, which are some of the best places to live in Montana.
