I first moved from Colorado to Bozeman, Montana, in 2012 for a publishing job. Immediately, the picturesque city felt like home.
My community felt small, vibrant, athletic, and artsy. I loved being surrounded by nature and hiking and snowboarding in the mountains one day while taking advantage of convenient city perks, like walkable stretches of restaurants and shops, the next.
For years, my rent was never more than $600 a month for either a one-bedroom or a large studio apartment, and the cost of living felt easy for me to navigate.
In 2017, I moved to Missoula for a career switch, but still figured I’d eventually buy a home in Bozeman and move back there for good.
But by the time I was ready to return a few years later, I felt like I’d been priced out. Fortunately, I found a different place to land in Montana about 100 miles away that changed my life for the better.
Bozeman’s growth made it less affordable
When I moved to Bozeman in 2012, it had just under 40,000 residents. Today, it’s pushing the 60,000 mark.
The jump in residents helped drive housing scarcity, plus high home and rent prices.
In the past five years, home values in Bozeman have risen significantly. Today, the average value of a single-family house in Bozeman is over $740,000, and the average rent is nearly $2,400 a month, according to data from Zillow
These rising prices and limited housing supply aren’t unique to Bozeman — Kalispell, Missoula, and even smaller Montana towns like Dillon have experienced similar booms in the past few years.
Locals attribute it to things like billionaire land investments in Montana, the rise of Airbnb, and even the recent popular Western drama “Yellowstone.”
No matter the cause, the financial pressure is tough to reconcile.
I live on a single income that’s steadily been above the average salary in Bozeman. Still, moving back to Bozeman meant I’d be spending more than 50% of my income on rent, and my dream of homeownership would be even more out of reach.
So, I started looking for a home in more rural parts of Montana, outside of the city I loved so much.
Moving to a more rural area has given me a lot of financial breathing room
I found that the further I got from Montana’s hub airports and decent restaurants, the fuller my wallet felt. Now, I live smack dab in the rural middle of Butte and Anaconda in southwestern Montana.
My homeownership dreams finally feel more attainable. In both Butte and Anaconda, the average home value is about $270,000 — less than half of what it is in Bozeman.
Plus, I’m able to save more money here with the lower cost of living.
My rent is less than half of what it would’ve been in Bozeman, and I can even afford to drive a nicer truck and keep a few horses. There’s also room in my budget for gas and plane tickets to travel when the long winters get me down.
On top of that, it’s been nice living in a more rural place. I know my neighbors, and I adore them. I feel safer out here in the boondocks than anywhere I’ve lived, Bozeman included.
And although I’m now about 100 miles from my beloved Bozeman, out here in the West, that’s only an hour and 15 minutes’ drive away.
I miss city life, but the trade-offs are worth it
I’d be lying if I said I don’t miss living in a city, from the convenience of grabbing a great cup of coffee at a nearby café to the ease of living close to an airport.
However, the trade-offs are worth it. Each morning, I sip great locally roasted coffee while I watch my horses eat hay with mountains in the distance.
All fall, a big bull elk bugled his songs on the hillside by my humble little home. I can see three different mountain ranges from where I live.
My friends also seem to visit me now more than they ever have. I’d visit me, too. In my humble opinion, this is a pretty great place to land.
