Montana: It’s one of the most naturally beautiful states in the country—rolling hills, mountains, forests, grasslands, and of course, wide open spaces for miles and miles.
Now, whether it is simply due to a lack of people (Montana is one of the least densely populated places in the country), or because the folks in Montana are just more peaceful than others, the only thing this state really seems to be lacking is crime.
According to the latest analysis here at the
Movoto Real Estate Blog, these 10 cities are the safest of them all—especially our safest spot, Dillon.
1. City of Dillon
2. City of Glasgow
3. City of Columbia Falls
4. City of Laurel
5. City of Miles City
6. City of Lewistown
7. City of Livingston (tie)
7. City of Belgrade (tie)
9. City of Whitefish
10. City of Sidney
To find out how we came up with this list and what makes each of these 10 places safer than the rest (aside from residents just having some much needed personal space), keep reading.
Our Methodology
We started by gathering a list of all of the places in Montana with populations of 3,000 people or more.
This may not sound like a lot, but remember, Big Sky Country is pretty sparsely populated and many of its cities and towns there are on the small side.
From there, we used the
2012 FBI Uniform Crime Report to find the following crime data for each place:
- Murder
- Rape
- Robbery
- Assault
- Burglary
- Theft
- Vehicle theft
After that, we divided these crimes into four different categories:
- Murders
- Violent crimes
- Property crimes
- Total crimes
Once we omitted any places that didn’t report crime data to the FBI that year, we ended up with a total of 20 cities, towns, villages, and Census Designated Places.
In order to fairly compare the places with larger populations to those with smaller populations, we calculated the crime rate per 100,000 residents for each.
Using these crime rates, we ranked each place from one to 20 in each of our categories, with numbers closer to one being safer.
We then weighted the results so that murders, violent crimes, and property crimes each comprised 30 percent of the overall score, while total crimes made up 10 percent.
Finally, we averaged these results into an overall
Big Deal Score, the lowest of which was our safest place.
For a look at how all 20 places we looked at ranked, you can head down to the bottom of the post. Otherwise, let’s take a closer look at each of the 10 safest, starting with Dillon.
1. Dillon
This city, located in Beaverhead County, came in at the top of our list for ranking well in all of our criteria.
Starting with the total number of crimes, Dillon saw just 1,136 per 100,000 people in 2012. Those included the least amount of property crimes in the state (1,039 per 100,000 people) and the second fewest violent crimes (97 per 100,000—none of which were murders).
To put that into perspective, just take a look at Hamilton, which ranked at No. 20 out of 20. Here, there were a total of 5,859 crimes per 100,000 people, including 5,200 property crimes and 659 violent crimes, 23 of which were murders.
2. Glasgow
This charming city came in near the top of our list due to its low amount of overall crime, property crime in particular.
In 2012, Glasgow had just 1,443 crimes per 100,000 people, 1,263 of which were property crimes, 180 of which were violent, and none of which were murders.
Let’s take a closer look at what this really means. Of the 1,263 property crimes per 100,000, there were 150 vehicle thefts, 993 thefts, and 120 burglaries. Of the violent crimes, as mentioned before, there were no murders, no robberies, 90 assaults, and 90 rapes per 100,000 people.
3. Columbia Falls
This city’s natural beauty is almost reason enough to live there on its own, but add in these low crime rates and it is no wonder residents are happy to call it home.
With just 84 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2012, Columbia Falls ranked safest in this important category.
In fact, of those violent crimes, all 84 were assaults (meaning no murders, rapes, or robberies for the year).
Additionally, Columbia Falls saw 2,763 property crimes, giving it a total of 2,847 crimes per 100,000 people for the year.
4. Laurel
This Yellowstone Valley city had no murders in 2012, like the rest of the places in our top 10. Where it really stood out, though, was for its low number of violent crimes overall. In 2012, there were just 161 per 100,000 people.
Those violent crimes included no murders, no robberies, 15 rapes, and 146 assaults per 100,000 people.
Additionally, there were 233 vehicle thefts, 2,215 thefts, and 248 burglaries per 100,000 people, making a total of 2,857 crimes per 100,000 people for the year.
5. Miles City
With over 8,000 residents, Miles City is easily the biggest place in our top 10, but clearly a larger population doesn’t mean more crime (after all, Hamilton came in at the bottom of our list and it only has about 4,000 residents).
Miles City ranked particularly well for its low number of property crimes per 100,000 people (2,354), and therefore its low number of total crimes (2,613). That’s about 3,000 fewer crimes than Hamilton had in either category.
6. Lewistown
Lewiston may be best known for Big Springs and the “purest drinking water in the world,” but in looking at these numbers, it may just want to add safety to that list of perks.
In 2012, this city had one of the lowest total numbers of crime, with just 1,662 crimes per 100,000 people. This was largely due to its 1,374 property crimes—the third lowest amount in the state.
With so few property crimes and crimes overall, the only reason Lewiston didn’t rank higher was because of relatively high number of violent crimes: 288 per 100,000 people. Fortunately, though, none of these were murders.
7. Livingston
This charming little city just north of Yellowstone National Park came in among our top 10, mostly due to its low number of property crimes, and therefore total number of total crimes.
With just 2,024 property crimes per 100,000 people, Livingston had the fourth lowest in this category. It also ranked fourth in the category of total crimes, with just 2,366 crimes overall.
Unfortunately, in order to get to that total, Livingston had to have quite a few violent crimes (342 per 100,000 people), but the good news is that none of these included murder.
7. Belgrade
Where our first No. 7 ranked well for a low number of property crimes, Belgrade had an impressively low number of violent crimes in particular: just 237 per 100,000 people.
Of those 237 per 100,000 people, there were no murders, 66 rapes, 13 robberies, and 158 assaults.
In addition to these violent crimes, there were also 2,986 property crimes (118 vehicle thefts, 2,500 thefts, and 368 burglaries) for a total of 3,223 crimes per 100,000 people.
9. Whitefish
This ski town may be the most fun when it’s covered in snow, but it is safe year-round—at least when it comes to crime. We didn’t take into account snowboards to heads.
As far as crime goes, though, Whitefish had a total of just 2,988 crimes per 100,000 people, which included 2,723 property crimes and 265 violent crimes (no murders).
For comparison’s sake, let’s take a look at a much larger city in Montana, Billings. Here there were 4,872 crimes per 100,000 people, including 4,524 property crimes and 348 violent crimes, three of which were murders.
10. Sidney
This Richland County city ranked particularly well for its low number of property crimes (2,631 per 100,000 people), and, because of this, its total number of crimes (3,088 per 100,000).
Unfortunately, Sidney had a high number of violent crimes with 457 per 100,000 people, which is why it didn’t rank higher in our analysis.
Everything But Crime
With its rolling hills, dramatic mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes, Montana really does seem to have it all—well, everything except for a lot of crime, that is.
Of course, some places are safer than others, even in Big Sky Country. To see how all 20 places we looked at ranked, just take a look at the table below.
If you happen to see your hometown down near the bottom, don’t worry, we can help find you a new home. Maybe someplace like…Dillon?
