As the second biggest city in Montana, Missoula offers locals the best of both worlds - a scenic and cost-efficient place to raise a family, but without the typical hustle and bustle of much bigger cities. Nestled in the Western mountains of the state, Missoula’s green and lush landscape is the perfect spot for outdoorsy millennials seeking an escape from the pressures of the 9 to 5. Located along the Clark Fork River, Missoula is ground zero for a serious hike, checking out the wildlife, enjoying an outdoor concert, or grabbing a delicious (and probably organic) bite to eat in the Downtown square. The best part is? All of this comes at a relatively low cost in comparison to what others are paying various western escape cities (see Park City, Jackson Hole, Boulder, etc.)

While the great outdoors might be right outside your door, getting from place to place is a bit of a drive. If you’re not big on spending a lot of time in the car to get to where you’re going (i.e. work, the grocery store, or to meet a friend for dinner), Missoula may not be the place for you. I mean, it is Montana, though - how close do you expect everything to be when you’re living in the mountains? On the bright side, it might force you to finally spend time creating that road trip Spotify playlist you’ve been “meaning to start” for the past several years. 

Green and Lush

LookyLOO Review of Missoula?

There’s not a ton of downtown housing options available, so most locals live in spaced out residential communities with that bed and breakfast style lodging. Missoula is very homey, and it’s easy to locate a safe and spacious housing option with lots of (eco) friendly neighbors at your beck and call. The one downside is that housing prices have risen somewhat significantly in the past 5 years, so if you’re looking to settle down now is the time. With a broad mix of suburban-style housing or less expensive apartment complexes, it’s easy to find a place that works for you. In other words, yes you can live in Montana, and no you don’t have to settle for a log cabin with horses in the back (although that’s available too).

To see what locals get up to for fun in Missoula, check out the [calendar of events](https://www.missoulaevents.net/). 

We highly recommend visiting Missula and staying in the community in a [VRBO](https://vrbo.com/affiliate/p4JS4ZC) 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](expedia.com/affiliate/9NZ8LBQ) as well.

Lifestyle 

It’s beautiful, it really is. With a high quality of life, genuinely friendly people, and a lot of fun activities ready at your fingertips, Missoula is a great place to raise a family or just find solace in some of the most beautiful land in the country.  Anyone who needs a break from reality, should definitely consider Missoula. You may have to invest in a proper winter coat, but hey it's worth it given the views you’re about to have in your backyard. 


The Beauty

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**406RealEstateGuy**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

It’s the best place I’ve ever lived, but it’s changing quickly as it grows.

The median household income for Missoula County is roughly $68K while the median home price is $540K. Interest rates today are 7% for well qualified buyers. I can’t stress this enough: People are hurting here. 1 in 5 households in Missoula County visited the food bank in 2023.

I’m a real estate agent who used to manage a thrift store here - home prices are crushing all the main industries in town (retail, service, hospitality). Make sure the staying power of your job is more or less secure. If you move here and your job changes - you can’t expect to earn a similar salary on the local scale, it’s going to be very challenging, if not impossible.

But, for real, Missoula is the best.

For more reviews of what living in Missoula is like from locals, check out [The Reviews](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/missoula/reviews).

Reviews of Missoula from Locals

**The Best Thing About Missoula?** 

As the second biggest city in Montana, Missoula offers locals  the best of both worlds - a scenic and cost-efficient place to raise a family, but without the typical hustle and bustle of much bigger cities. Nestled in the Western mountains of the state, Missoula’s green and lush landscape is the perfect spot for outdoorsy millennials seeking an escape from the pressures of the 9 to 5. Located along the Clark Fork River, Missoula is ground zero for a serious hike, checking out the wildlife, enjoying an outdoor concert, or grabbing a delicious (and probably organic) bite to eat in the Downtown square. The best part is? All of this comes at a relatively low cost in comparison to what others are paying various western escape cities (see Park City, Jackson Hole, Boulder, etc.)


**The Worst Thing About Missoula?**

While the great outdoors might be right outside your door, getting from place to place is a bit of a drive. If you’re not big on spending a lot of time in the car to get to where you’re going (i.e. work, the grocery store, or to meet a friend for dinner), Missoula may not be the place for you. I mean, it is Montana though - how close do you expect everything to be when you’re living in the mountains? On the bright side, it might force you to finally spend time creating that roadtrip Spotify playlist you’ve been “meaning to start” for the past several years. 

**How You Living?** 

There’s not a ton of downtown housing options available, so most locals live in spaced out residential communities with that bed and breakfast style lodging. Missoula is very homey, and it’s easy to locate a safe and spacious housing option with lots of (eco) friendly neighbors at your beck and call. The one downside is that housing prices have risen somewhat significantly in the past 5 years, so if you’re looking to settle down now is the time. With a broad mix of suburban-style housing or less expensive apartment complexes, it’s easy to find a place that works for you. In other words, yes you can live in Montana, and no you don’t have to settle for a log cabin with horses in the back (although that’s available too).


**Why You Should Move Here Now?** 

It’s beautiful, it really is. With a high quality of life, genuinely friendly people, and a lot of fun activities ready at your fingertips, Missoula is a great place to raise a family or just find solace in some of the most beautiful land in the country.  Anyone who needs a break from reality, should definitely consider Missoula. You may have to invest in a proper winter coat, but hey it's worth it given the views you’re about to have in your backyard. 




Downtown is “headquarters” for Young Professionals as well as students who want to live off-campus from University of Montana. Plenty of inexpensive apartment housing lures both communities who seek a lively social experience within walking distance of their homes. Downtown is filled with cool shops, art galleries, tons of restaurants and reasonably priced bars, and it plays host to tons of local events including concerts and performing arts. 
- Downtown


College Students/Young Professionals

Downtown

Rose Park is possibly the most notable neighborhood in Missoula due to its unique structure. It is nicknamed “slat street” by locals because of the way its roads angle off at about 45 degrees from due north. This makes it tricky to drive and keeps traffic down the peace and quiet in full bloom. The area has beautiful parks for outdoor play and is a walk to many of Missoula’s best restaurants so families enjoy the peace and quiet and access to social culture. Lower Rattlesnake is another great option - home to the Rattlesnake Recreation it is an amazing area for families to experience the outdoors. Homes are blocks in the area are both suburban and rural style to suit your taste. 
- Rose Park 
- Lewis and Clark
- Lower Rattlesnake


Families

Rose Park

Missoula

**silentcartographer3**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

Northside
OP my one recommendation is before you throw everything in one basket is to actually experience a full winter in Montana before "hang your hat up". The reason I bring this up is it takes a different mentality to live here. The winters are freakishly long and brutal. There is not as much light as you are probably expecting (we just started to see the sun @7am and sets after 4:45pm) most of the winter it's about 8:30am-4:30pm for daylight hours. The winter depression is a real thing here and you don't know isolation till you find yourself alone for a few days without contact with people around you darkness and cold bad weather constantly being there. Additionally we are 2nd or 3rd for suicide and #1 for mental health problems in the United States so it is something to be aware of. Most people who don't have experience in the Rockies during the winter are almost desperate to leave after their first winter. I'm not trying to dissuade you but this is the reality of Montana.

Additionally it is worth noting that I don't know where you are coming from but if you are looking for nightlife or lots of entertainment not involving the outdoors or drinking in bars/casinos there is some things but not a whole lot Missoula has three movie theaters total, one year round music venue that brings in national acts, there are more in the summer but don't expect huge amounts of variety of choices in styles of music. And we have Grizz football and basketball for winter entertainment and Paddleheads the minor league baseball team in the summer.

**highgroundworshiper**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

Based off of the information you provided you will love it here. With your budget you’ll do fine, especially living on the outskirts. If your wife travels towards Kalispell or Hamilton consistently you could consider the smaller towns of Frenchtown or Lolo. The town of Missoula itself has a ton of dog parks for you if you can’t find a good spot to rent right away that has a yard.

The dislike of outsiders isn’t as extreme as some people indicate. Just get your plates changed and a Montana license and you’ll avoid the worst of it.

The unhoused population is concentrated only in two areas, one of which is a stones throw (literally) away from me. It’s not nearly as bad as say Portland or Seattle. There is crime and drug use but it’s significantly scaled down from other larger cities.

Missoula has a great vibrant culture and tons of community events and the food scene punches way above its weight for the size of town we are. The University has some cool sports programs and the vibe and atmosphere of the football games is worth checking out even if you aren’t that into it.

Missoula gets more than its fair share of music as well. We have a few different larger venues and one of them(the amphitheater) is low key a top 50 venue in the US. I may be biased tho. Haha.

**406RealEstateGuy**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

It’s the best place I’ve ever lived, but it’s changing quickly as it grows.

The median household income for Missoula County is roughly $68K while the median home price is $540K. Interest rates today are 7% for well qualified buyers. I can’t stress this enough: People are hurting here. 1 in 5 households in Missoula County visited the food bank in 2023.

I’m a real estate agent who used to manage a thrift store here - home prices are crushing all the main industries in town (retail, service, hospitality). Make sure the staying power of your job is more or less secure. If you move here and your job changes - you can’t expect to earn a similar salary on the local scale, it’s going to be very challenging, if not impossible.

But, for real, Missoula is the best.

Missoula, Montana

Zootown

Looklyloo Score: 93