Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman has been rated the best place to live in the West for skiing, and it frequently tops the lists as the best small city in the country for those seeking an outdoor lifestyle. Simply put, if you want to live in the great outdoors and flyfish, ski, hike, mountain climb, snowshoe, mountain bike, trail run, camp, or anything else you can think of, you would be hard-pressed to find a city more perfectly suited to your tastes. It’s so outdoorsy they filmed chunks of the movie A River Runs Through It here.

They don’t call it Boz Angeles because they’re surfing here. They call it that because in 2018, it was rated the fastest growing city of its size in the country, and a lot of that and more recent growth seems to be fancier than the rest of the state and filled with Californians and celebs. You can spot them at the cafes on Main Street all day long (anyone working here?). What’s truly problematic with the new blood is how it creates a mismatch between costs and local wages. Costs are above the national average, and incomes are below. That’s not unique to Bozeman, but the problem is growing faster here (like everything else).

Downtown Bozeman is where a lot of the newcomers are moving. It has beautiful historic homes but also tons of new “high rises”. You have to pack those Californians in somewhere, am I right? There’s lots to be said for being within walking distance of the booming commercial district and multiple city parks of downtown, but if you’re here something different, there are options.

Northeast Bozeman is a thriving, funkier area of town with coffee shops, breweries, and tons of cool new housing options. West Bozeman and South Side are two wonderful options for families looking for room to spread their wings, let the kids run wildish, and be much closer to the mountains and trails outside the city.

If you want to see all there is to do in Bozeman, check out the calendar of events.

We highly recommend visiting Bozemena and staying in the community in a VRBO rather than a hotel to get a feel for what it's like to live among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our partnership with Expedia as well.

We know that lots of people are bailing on their cities to go to places like Bozeman which offer a covid/post-covid respite from their old lives. They plan to work remotely and that all sounds perfect. If however, you ever choose to leave your old gig you could hardly be in a better smaller city than Bozeman for finding a new job. This place is jumping with tech and aerospace and creative enterprises.

Also, as long as you’re living here, you might as well enjoy the 300 days of sunshine. After largely being shut in for 15+ months it is really nice to go out and get some rays.