Billings, Montana population is 121,239 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #252 nationally and #1 in Montana. Cost of living runs 6.5% below the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $105,509/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
At a glance.
2025 population
121,239
-206 in the last year
Top 2% of 19,483 U.S. cities
Census Vintage 2025
Cost of living
RPP 93.5
−6.5% vs US
Billings, MT metro · BEA 2024
Family-of-4 budget
$105,509/yr
+32% vs US
Modeled 2025 · federal sources
Median HH income
$73,712
−5.2% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
Median home value
$343,400
+13% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
2-BR fair-market rent
$1,417/mo
HUD FY2026 · 40th pct
Avg July high
89°F
NOAA 1991–2020
Gigabit broadband
32%
ISP-reported, FCC BDC
Explore Billings, MT demographics, including age, race and ethnicity, households, origins, language, and education.
How many people live in Billings?
121,239 people live in Billings as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #252 largest U.S. city.
How big is Billings?
Billings covers 46.3 square miles of land and 0.1 square miles of water. Its population density is about 2,621 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population grew 3.5% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 117,147 → 2025: 121,239 (+3.5%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
117,147
April 1, 2020
2020
117,218
July 1, 2020
2021
117,751
July 1, 2021
2022
119,885
July 1, 2022
2023
120,671
July 1, 2023
2024
121,445
July 1, 2024
2025
121,239
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 4.8% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Billings is the #252 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #1 in Montana.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
117,147
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
+4,092
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
+3.5%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
-206
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
-0.2%
within V2025 only
Density
2,621
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
46.3
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#252
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#1
of 127 in Montana
What is the median household income in Billings?
Median household income is 5% below the U.S. median ($73,712 vs $77,719); 9.8% live in poverty — 2.7 points below the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Median household income$73,712
US
Billings: $73,712 — 5% below the US median of $77,719.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data
Billings
$73,712
United States
$77,719
Income and poverty estimates for Billings from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
73,712-5.2% vs US
±3,113
Per capita income
43,934+1.5% vs US
±2,047
Population in poverty
9.8%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 13% above the U.S. median ($343,400 vs $303,400); median rent is 16% below ($1,138 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio is 4.7×, making it 1.2× as cost-burdened as the typical U.S. city (3.9×).
Median home value$343,400
US
Billings: $343,400 — 13% above the US median of $303,400.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$1,417/mo
US
Billings: $1,417/mo — 32% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Billings. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
2.8%
Billings (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
63,370
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
8.5%-39.1% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — Billings sits in Yellowstone County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Yellowstone County
8.3%
$77,321
2.8%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Billings's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
15,076
$1,440 / wk
#2
Retail trade (44-45)
10,847
$821 / wk
#3
Accommodation and food services (72)
10,229
$514 / wk
#4
Construction (23)
6,226
$1,429 / wk
#5
Wholesale trade (42)
5,560
$1,647 / wk
What workers earn in the Billings, MT metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Fast Food and Counter Workers is the largest tracked occupation in the Billings, MT metro (3,310 jobs, median $29,130/yr).
▸Show all 12 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Fast Food and Counter Workers
3,310
$29,130
$14.00
Cashiers
1,880
$33,120
$15.92
Stockers and Order Fillers
1,780
$39,050
$18.77
Office Clerks, General
1,670
$45,570
$21.91
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
1,660
$36,640
$17.62
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
1,390
$37,550
$18.05
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
2,900
$35,760
$17.19
Registered Nurses · benchmark
2,550
$82,300
$39.57
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
2,030
$96,980
$46.63
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
1,990
$60,850
$29.26
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 6.5% below the U.S. average (RPP 93.5); utilities run 27.6% below (RPP 72.4) — the metro's utility affordability is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 93.5
US
Billings's cost of living runs 6.5% below the U.S. average (RPP 93.5 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 93.5
−6.5% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Billings, MT metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$1,417/mo
FY2026 · Billings, MT HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
5.90%
2 brackets · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$8,792/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$4,427/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in Montana · no modeled local income tax
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
These are K-12 public school districts. Higher education (colleges and universities) is not represented in this dataset.
Public school districts serving Billings, from the NCES EDGE Geographic Relationship Files (GRF25, 2024–25 school year boundaries). The join is many-to-many — large cities often span multiple districts, and one district often serves multiple cities. Sorted primary district first. See methodology §12 for the consolidated-city fallback and Milford CT special case.
Source: NCES EDGE GRF25 · school year 2024–25 · methodology →
What is the climate like in Billings?
Hottest month: July (89°F avg high). Coldest: January (15°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 14.3 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Billings from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Natural-hazard exposure for Billings from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Yellowstone County
83.6
Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather 99.1 Very High · Cold Wave 97.1 Relatively High · Wildfire 93.4 Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Billings?
15 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 32% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Billings from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
15 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
13
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
35.6%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
31.8%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
60,835
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
Billings sits at state rank #1 among 127 cities in Montana. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Independence, MO · #251 · 121,675 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: High Point, NC · #253 · 120,571 residents.
Quick travel facts for Billings
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
Billings Logan International Airport(BIL) · 2 mi 2 km from city centroid
Sources: elevation from USGS Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Billings.
How many people live in Billings, MT?
Billings has 121,239 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #252 largest city in the United States and #1 in Montana. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Billings growing or shrinking?
Billings has grown 3.5% since the April 2020 census baseline, adding 4,092 residents. The most recent year ticked down slightly (−206 residents, −0.2% from 2024 to 2025). Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was Billings's population in the 2020 census?
Billings covers 46.3 square miles of land, with a population density of about 2,621 residents per square mile. Source: Census Gazetteer 2025.
What is the median household income in Billings?
$73,712, about 5% below the U.S. median. Source: ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024.
SourceU.S. Census · PEP
VintageV2025
Reference2025-07-01
Place typeIncorporated place
GEOID3006550
Last build2026-08-27
Sources · provenance
Every listed dataset is used on this page.
The GEOID for Billings is 3006550. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
