Cost of Living in Billings, MT (2026): Rent, Home Prices, Wages, Utilities & Taxes

Last updated: October 2026

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The short answer: Billings is the most affordable of Montana’s large cities for housing. Zillow’s typical home value there was about $401,000 in September 2026. That’s roughly 14% below the Montana figure of about $467,000, and well under Missoula (about $564,000) or Bozeman (Zillow Research). Typical asking rent was about $1,393 a month. Wages roughly track the state: the Billings metro’s median wage was $49,060 in May 2025 (BLS OEWS). Billings is Montana’s largest city, with 121,239 residents in 2025 (Census QuickFacts). The costs to look at closely are the city’s property tax levy and the higher NorthWestern Energy rates compared with the co-op that serves the surrounding area.

This article is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Prices, rates and tax rules change. Check the linked sources or a qualified professional for your own situation.

Billings by the numbers

Buying a home

Source: Zillow Research, ZHVI city, metro and state files, Sept. 30 values. ZHVI is the typical value for homes in roughly the middle third of the market, not a median sale price. Percent changes are our arithmetic.

Billings values have risen faster over five years (+26%) than Missoula’s (+20%). Over the past year they rose a little faster than the state’s. Billings still starts from a much lower base. Bozeman’s typical value is about 80% higher.

Source: Census QuickFacts. ACS figures are 5-year survey averages and run behind current prices.

About two-thirds of Billings homes are owner-occupied, a higher share than Missoula’s 47%. Homeowners insurance belongs in your monthly budget. Get a quote for the specific address before you make an offer.

Renting

HUD Fair Market Rents, FY2027 (Billings HUD Metro FMR Area: Yellowstone and Carbon counties)

Source: HUD USER, FY2027 Fair Market Rents. FMRs are the 40th percentile of rents paid by recent movers. They include tenant-paid utilities and exclude units under two years old (HUD USER). Stillwater County, the third county in the Billings metro, is priced separately (2-bedroom: $1,271).

Zillow’s typical asking rent in Billings rose about 3.6% in a year, from $1,344 to $1,393, and about 29% from September 2021’s $1,078. In nearby Laurel it was $1,282 (our arithmetic from Zillow ZORI).

Paychecks and jobs

The Billings metro area covers Yellowstone, Carbon and Stillwater counties.

At $1,432 a month, the 2-bedroom FMR comes to about 35% of the metro’s median wage for a single earner (our arithmetic). That compares with 42% in Missoula and 46% in Bozeman. Of the cities we’ve covered, Billings has the lightest rent burden relative to local pay.

Power, gas, water and sewer

Electricity and natural gas

NorthWestern Energy provides electricity in Billings, and its Billings Division office is at 1944 Monad Road (NorthWestern Energy locations). Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative, based in Huntley, serves members in Yellowstone, Stillwater, Carbon, Big Horn, Musselshell and Treasure counties, with 23,458 meters (YVEC). EIA data show the co-op had about 21,700 Montana residential customers in 2026. We didn’t find a public service-territory map, so ask the seller or the utilities which one serves a specific address. Natural gas comes from Montana-Dakota Utilities, not NorthWestern. MDU’s Montana tariff lists Billings and Laurel among the communities it serves in its Rocky Mountain Region (MDU Montana tariff, Communities Served).

EIA 861M figures are preliminary, utility-wide averages (revenue ÷ customers each month, averaged January–July 2026). They aren’t Billings-specific bills. The co-op’s average bill is higher than NWE’s because its customers use more power on average. Its price per kWh is lower.

Natural gas (MDU residential Rate 60): a basic service charge of $0.33 a day, plus $6.237 per dekatherm as of Oct. 1, 2026. That per-dekatherm figure is a $1.964 distribution charge, a $0.009 adjustment and a $4.264 cost of gas, which MDU sets monthly. A 19.2689% tax-tracking adjustment applies to the basic service and distribution charges. The rates come from the Rate 60 tariff (service on and after Nov. 1, 2025, from rate case Docket 2024.05.061) and the MDU Rate Summary Sheet (effective Oct. 1, 2026). Example: a 30-day month using 10 dekatherms comes to about $78 before other riders, such as the Universal System Benefits charge (our arithmetic; 10 dekatherms is an illustrative amount, not a measured Billings average).

Water and wastewater (City of Billings)

Sources: City of Billings Public Works, Water & Wastewater Service Rates; Resolution 25-11273 (water) and Resolution 25-11275 (wastewater, adopted June 23, 2025). The resolutions are scanned documents, and we read the rates from the page images. The tier ranges come from the council-packet text of the water resolution (Resolution 25-11273, council packet). The city says the wastewater volume charge is “based on the amount of wastewater created” (Billings Public Works).

Example: a home with a 3/4″ meter that uses 6,000 gallons in a month would pay $8.95 + 6 × $4.97 = $38.77 for water and $8.00 + 6 × $5.95 = $43.70 for wastewater. That’s $82.47 for water and sewer. Garbage collection adds $15.75 a month for the standard 90-gallon cart, or $11.25 for a 64-gallon cart (Billings Public Works, Residential & Commercial Rates; Resolution 26-11339, effective July 1, 2026). Stormwater adds $9.96 a month, because each single-family home is one Equivalent Residential Unit (Resolution 26-11347, effective June 8, 2026). The total city utility bill comes to about $108.18 a month (our arithmetic).

Taxes

Sales tax

Billings has no general sales tax and no resort tax (MT DOR). Hotels and vacation rentals carry the state’s combined 8% lodging tax (MT DOR). For the full picture, see Does Montana Have Sales Tax?

Income tax

For 2026, Montana taxes income at 4.7% up to $47,500 (single) or $95,000 (married filing jointly) and at 5.65% above that. For 2027, the rate is 4.7% up to $65,000 / $130,000 and 5.4% above (MT DOR, HB 337).

Property tax

Source: MT DOR, 2026 Tax Information for Property Owners. The primary-residence rate requires living in the home at least 7 months a year.

Worked example (taxable value only): a $401,000 Billings primary residence has a taxable value of $378,000 × 0.76% + $23,000 × 0.90% = $3,079.80. Each 100 mills adds about $308 a year. If the same home were a second home, its taxable value would be $7,619 at the flat 1.90% rate, about 2.5 times as much (our arithmetic).

Local levies: in tax year 2024, the City of Billings’s own levy was 207.36 mills and Laurel’s was 219.46. Yellowstone County’s average county-assessed levy was 136.22 mills, and the state levy was 102.50 (MT DOR Biennial Report 2022–2024, Property Taxes, Tables 6.13 and 6.14). School and special district mills come on top of those. Billings’s city levy was higher than Bozeman’s (158.17) and Kalispell’s (197.12), and lower than Missoula’s (239.90). Mills were reset when the 2025–2026 rate changes took effect, so don’t apply 2024 mills to 2026 rates.

Latest county schedule (tax year 2025): the total levy for a home inside the city in Billings School District 2 was 761.94 mills. That was the City of Billings at 244.39, the county at 142.45, the school district at 249.23, school retirement and transportation at 23.37, and the state at 102.50. Inside Laurel the total was 739.22 (Yellowstone County Treasurer, FY2025–26 mill levies; FY25–FY26 comparison). Applied to the example’s 2026 taxable value of $3,079.80, 761.94 mills would be about $2,347 a year. Treat that as a rough figure, not a bill: tax-year 2026 levies hadn’t been posted when we checked, and the special assessments listed on the same county sheet can come on top.

Prices beyond housing

BLS doesn’t publish a CPI for any Montana area. The Mountain division CPI, which includes Montana, rose 3.3% from September 2025 to September 2026, compared with 3.7% nationally (BLS CPI; our calculation).

Starting-point budget references

Related reading: Moving to Montana in 2027: Costs, Best Towns & Timeline · How Much Does It Cost to Move to Montana? · Cost of Living in Bozeman, MT · Cost of Living in Missoula, MT · Visiting Yellowstone from Montana

How Billings compares

Billings costs less to live in than Bozeman, Missoula or the Flathead, mainly because of housing. Its typical home value is below the state’s. Its 2-bedroom fair market rent is the lowest of the four cities we’ve covered. Wages there are close to Montana’s median. Two items need more care. Gas comes from MDU, whose cost-of-gas charge changes often. The city’s levy sits in the middle-to-high range of Montana cities. Before you commit to an address, check its electric provider, its tax classification and its levy district.

Scouting trip? Compare rental cars at Billings Logan (BIL). Red Lodge, the start of the Beartooth Highway, is about 60 miles southwest, roughly an hour’s drive via I-90 and US 212 (Red Lodge Chamber), longer in winter.

Sources

1. Zillow Research, Housing Data (ZHVI city/metro/state, ZORI city; Sept. 30, 2026 values): https://www.zillow.com/research/data/
2. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Billings, Yellowstone County and Laurel: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/billingscitymontana,yellowstonecountymontana,laurelcitymontana/PST045225
3. HUD USER, Fair Market Rents (FY2027): https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html
4. HUD USER, About Fair Market Rents: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ongoing/Fair-Market-Rents.html
5. BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025): https://www.bls.gov/oes/
6. BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2025 annual averages): https://www.bls.gov/cew/
7. BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/lau/
8. BLS, Consumer Price Index: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/
9. U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a
10. U.S. EIA, Form EIA-861M monthly utility data (sales_ult_cust_2026.xlsx): https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861m/
11. NorthWestern Energy, Montana Rate Review Facts: https://www.northwesternenergy.com/billing-payment/rates-tariffs/rates-tariffs-montana/montana-rate-review/facts
12. Montana-Dakota Utilities, Montana Natural Gas Tariff, Communities Served: https://www.montana-dakota.com/wp-content/uploads/PDFs/Rates-Tariffs/Montana/NaturalGas/MT_NaturalGasCommunitiesServed.pdf
13. City of Billings Public Works, Water & Wastewater Service Rates: https://www.billingsmtpublicworks.gov/282/Water-Wastewater-Service-Rates
14. City of Billings, Resolution 25-11273 (water rates FY26–27): https://www.billingsmtpublicworks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1538/RES-25-11273-FY26-27-Water-Wastewater-fees
15. City of Billings, Resolution 25-11275 (wastewater rates FY26–27): https://www.billingsmtpublicworks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1539/RES-25-11275-FY26-27-Wastewater-Retail-Rees-Rates
16. Montana DOR, Sales Tax Guidance: https://revenue.mt.gov/taxes/general-sales-tax
17. Montana DOR, Lodging Facility Sales and Use Tax: https://revenue.mt.gov/taxes/miscellaneous/lodging-facility
18. Montana DOR, HB 337 income tax changes: https://revenue.mt.gov/news/recent-news/HB-337
19. Montana DOR, 2026 Tax Information for Property Owners: https://revenue.mt.gov/property/property-tax-changes/2026-property-tax-information
20. Montana DOR, Biennial Report July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2024, Property Taxes chapter: https://revenue.mt.gov/files/DOR-Publications/Biennial-Reports/July-1-2022-June-30-2024-Biennial-Report/Biennial-Report-7-1-2022-6-30-2024-Property-Taxes.pdf
21. NorthWestern Energy, Service & Payment Locations: https://www.northwesternenergy.com/customer-service/service-payment-locations
22. Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative, About the Cooperative: https://www.yvec.com/about/about-the-cooperative/
23. Montana-Dakota Utilities, Montana Residential Gas Service Rate 60: https://www.montana-dakota.com/wp-content/uploads/PDFs/Rates-Tariffs/Montana/NaturalGas/MT_NaturalGas60.pdf
24. Montana-Dakota Utilities, Montana Gas Rate Summary Sheet (effective Oct. 1, 2026): https://www.montana-dakota.com/wp-content/uploads/PDFs/Rates-Tariffs/Montana/NaturalGas/MT-Gas-Rate-Summary.pdf
25. City of Billings, Resolution 25-11273 council packet (text version): https://public.destinyhosted.com/bilmtdocs/2025/CC/20250527_1830/11560_11560_Resolution_FY26-27_Water_Wastewater_fees_05.05.25.pdf
26. City of Billings Public Works, Residential & Commercial (solid waste) Rates: https://www.billingsmtpublicworks.gov/271/Residential-Commercial-Rates
27. City of Billings, Resolution 26-11347 (storm sewer fees): https://www.billingsmt.gov/DocumentCenter/View/55845/RES-26-11347-Setting-Storm-Sewer-System-fees
28. Yellowstone County Treasurer, Property Tax Mill Levies FY2025–2026: https://www.yellowstonecountymt.gov/finance/Levy/levy26/MillLevyInfoFY26_1.pdf
29. Yellowstone County, Tax Levy Comparison FY25–FY26: https://www.yellowstonecountymt.gov/finance/Levy/levy26/MillLevyInfoFY26_3.pdf

Cole Bennett edits MontanaHelp, a research-driven guide to moving to and living in Montana. Articles cite official and public sources and are updated as rules and data change. AI tools help research and draft them; a person runs the editorial process and spot-checks one article from each batch before it’s published.

AI tools helped research and draft this article. A person runs MontanaHelp’s editorial process and spot-checks one article from each batch before it’s published.