Cheapest Cities to Buy a House in Montana (2026)
The 6 cheapest Montana cities by median closed price, from $317,000 in Butte to $543,000 in Missoula, with what houses cost per square foot, what resales did, and how fast listings go.
Every Montana city below cleared 100 closings in its window and is ranked by the median price homes actually closed at, not the asking price. The columns beside it are the questions that follow a low price: what you pay per square foot, what the same homes did on resale, and how quickly listings go.
The ranking
| # | City | Median closed price | Houses $/sqft | Realized appreciation | Days to contract | Closings | Window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Butte | $317,000 | $185 | n/a | 13 | 242 | six months |
| 2 | Great Falls | $339,500 | $186 | n/a | 14 | 511 | six months |
| 3 | Billings | $399,900 | $189 | n/a | n/a | 242 | six months |
| 4 | Helena | $435,500 | $243 | n/a | 11 | 203 | six months |
| 5 | Kalispell | $525,000 | $335 | n/a | 31 | 270 | six months |
| 6 | Missoula | $543,000 | $327 | n/a | 18 | 541 | six months |
1. Butte, $317,000
Butte's median closed price over the last six months was $317,000, around 58 percent of what the typical Montana sale closed at. 242 closings sit behind that figure, about 40 a month, enough to price against. On a per-square-foot basis, houses there closed at a median of $185, measured on 217 sales. Listed homes went under contract in a median of 13 days, which is fast for the state and leaves little time to deliberate. Full detail is on the Butte market page.
2. Great Falls, $339,500
The median closed price in Great Falls is $339,500 across the last six months, which puts it at roughly 62 percent of the state figure. 511 closings sit behind that figure, about 85 a month, enough to price against. Single-family houses closed at a median of $186 per square foot across 421 sales with usable living area. Listed homes went under contract in a median of 14 days, which is fast for the state and leaves little time to deliberate. Full detail is on the Great Falls market page.
3. Billings, $399,900
Billings's median closed price over the last six months was $399,900, around 73 percent of what the typical Montana sale closed at. Resideline tracked 242 closings there, roughly 40 a month. Single-family houses closed at a median of $189 per square foot across 200 sales with usable living area. Full detail is on the Billings market page.
4. Helena, $435,500
The median closed price in Helena is $435,500 across the last six months, which puts it at roughly 79 percent of the state figure. 203 closings sit behind that figure, about 34 a month, enough to price against. Single-family houses closed at a median of $243 per square foot across 143 sales with usable living area. Listed homes went under contract in a median of 11 days, which is fast for the state and leaves little time to deliberate. Full detail is on the Helena market page.
5. Kalispell, $525,000
Homes in Kalispell closed at a median of $525,000 over the last six months, close to the statewide median. Resideline tracked 270 closings there, roughly 45 a month. Single-family houses closed at a median of $335 per square foot across 199 sales with usable living area. The median listed home took 31 days to go under contract, across 32 listed closings. Full detail is on the Kalispell market page.
6. Missoula, $543,000
The median closed price in Missoula is $543,000 across the last six months, roughly in line with the state as a whole. 541 closings sit behind that figure, about 90 a month, enough to price against. Single-family houses closed at a median of $327 per square foot across 367 sales with usable living area. Listed homes went under contract in a median of 18 days, which is fast for the state and leaves little time to deliberate. Full detail is on the Missoula market page.
Note: realized appreciation is the one column measured on the postal city, from repeat sales of the same home across the ZIP codes that share the city's name; every other figure is confined to the municipal boundary.
How to read this list
A low median is where the analysis starts, not where it ends. Property type, size, condition and block move a number far more than the city line does, so check any address on this list against its own comparable closings.
Figures last updated September 5, 2026 from closings Resideline tracked. Appreciation is the median annual change between consecutive sales of the same home; it is historical, nominal and not a projection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest city to buy a house in Montana?
Butte, with a median closed price of $317,000 over its reporting window, among Montana cities where Resideline tracked at least 100 closings inside the city limits.
Are these asking prices or sale prices?
Closed sale prices. Every price median is the price homes actually closed at inside the municipal boundary, not a listing price. The one column measured differently is realized appreciation, which uses the postal city, as the note under the table says.
Why does a cheap city show a high price per square foot?
Because the ranking median covers every property type that closed, condos and multi-family included, while the $/sqft column is single-family houses only. In cities where most sales are condos, the median price is low and the house $/sqft can still be high.
Is the appreciation figure a forecast?
No. It is the median annual change between consecutive sales of the same home, on repeat-sale pairs. It is historical and nominal, and it says what happened, not what will.
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