Boulder, Montana.
Typical home $342,813 (+1.3% in a year). Helena, MT metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,103 (+158%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $4,457 +1%
- $338,355$342,813 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $83,809 +32%
- $259,004$342,813 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Boulder$1,799
- Montana$2,453
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 12 years.
Typical home values in Boulder, MT rose 1.3% over the past year — in step with the nation.
Living in Boulder, Jefferson County, Montana
Boulder is a city of 1,201 people in Jefferson County. Unemployment in Jefferson County was 2.6% in August 2026, and the county had 2.7% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Jefferson County work in schools and health care, then government.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Boulder is a small town in Jefferson County, Montana, with a population that fills only a few blocks and a main street. Household incomes across Jefferson County run well above what many small Montana towns see, and few residents live below the poverty line. Homes here are valued well above what the county's incomes alone might suggest, and a four-year degree is held by a minority of adults.
Work. Residents of Boulder most often work in schools, hospitals and social care, followed by government, the building trades and shops. Across Jefferson County, the largest workplaces include the Montana Department of Justice Highway Patrol, Elkhorn Healthcare & Rehab and the Montana City Elementary schools. Unemployment in the county is low and has eased slightly over the past year, and the county has added jobs over the past year. A typical commute is moderate in length, and a small share of people work from home.
Things to do. Winters in Boulder are cold, with December the coldest month, and summers are warm, with July the warmest; the year is fairly dry overall. For time outdoors, the Little Blackfoot River and the Helena National Forest are both a longer drive away, as is Lewis and Clark Caverns, a well-known tourist attraction. Berkeley Pit, a lake, is also a longer drive from town.
Report a mistake
- 520households
- 22%of adults have a degree
- 4%below the poverty line
- 25 mintypical commute
- 7%work from home
What people in Jefferson County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Jefferson County had 2,784 jobs in 2025, 2.7% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in December, with highs near 34° and lows near 12°; warmest in July, with highs near 82° and lows near 48°. About 11 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Boulder weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Jefferson County
- Montana Department of Justice - Highway PatrolHighway patrols, police324
- Elkhorn Healthcare & RehabSkilled nursing facilities65
- Montana City Elem SchoolsSchool district56FTE
- Whitehall Elem SchoolsSchool district49FTE
- Clancy Elem SchoolsSchool district44FTE
- Harlow's School Bus Service40
- Jefferson H S SchoolsSchool district36FTE
- Boulder Elem SchoolsSchool district35FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 5 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 469 people in all across the county; Boulder has two of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Winter weatherVery high
- LightningVery high
- Cold wavesVery high
- LandslidesRelatively high
- WildfireRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively high
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Boulder’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Jefferson County and the Helena, MT metro.
Boulder home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Boulder$342,813
- Montana$467,275
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Boulder16
Zip codes with a Boulder address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Boulder — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.