Montana · NCES CCD 2024-25

Best-Resourced School Districts in Montana

Top 50 districts ranked by average school quality score, based on student-teacher ratios, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.

Compiled by PlainSchools, Education-data publisher · August 11, 2026

The ranking in one line

Browning Elem in Browning leads Montana's districts with an average school quality score of 49/100 across 7 schools.

49/100
top district score (grade D): 7
schools in Browning Elem: 1,266
students in the top district: 39/100
average across the top 50

#	District	Grade	Students	Schools	Avg S:T	Per-Pupil $	Avg Quality
1	Browning ElemBrowning	D	1,266	7	11.3:1	$21,449	49
2	Monforton ElemBozeman	D	669	3	16.8:1	$9,357	49
3	Three Forks ElemThree Forks	D	523	2	15.1:1	$11,141	49
4	Malta K-12 SchoolsMalta	D	519	4	11.1:1	$13,218	46
5	Cut Bank ElemCut Bank	D	551	7	12.9:1	$12,822	45.7
6	Bozeman H SBozeman	D	2,631	2	16.9:1	$13,794	45.5
7	Poplar ElemPoplar	D	596	3	10.4:1	$22,549	45
8	Bozeman ElemBozeman	D	4,651	11	15.2:1	$10,840	43.7
9	Corvallis K-12 SchoolsCorvallis	D	1,342	4	14.1:1	$10,829	43.5
10	Laurel ElemLaurel	D	1,272	4	15:1	$12,438	42
11	Helena H SHelena	D	2,514	2	13.4:1	$13,044	41.5
12	Lolo ElemLolo	D	507	2	14.1:1	$12,874	40.5
13	Sidney ElemSidney	D	856	3	15.2:1	$12,008	40.3
14	Glendive ElemGlendive	D	782	3	12.9:1	$14,702	40.3
15	Huntley Project K-12 SchoolsWorden	D	773	3	14.3:1	$15,530	40.3
16	Frenchtown K-12 SchoolsFrenchtown	D	1,443	4	13.1:1	$11,281	40.3
17	Missoula ElemMissoula	D	5,280	12	14.2:1	$13,401	40.2
18	Polson ElemPolson	D	1,173	3	13.6:1	$12,918	40
19	Livingston ElemLivingston	D	837	3	9.8:1	$14,667	40
20	Shepherd ElemShepherd	D	562	2	14.9:1	$10,165	40
21	Lockwood K-12Lockwood	F	1,718	4	13.8:1	$11,727	39.5
22	Target Range ElemMissoula	F	574	2	17:1	$10,371	39.5
23	Anaconda ElemAnaconda	F	740	3	12.6:1	$15,789	39
24	Evergreen ElemKalispell	F	651	2	12.2:1	$15,048	39
25	Helena ElemHelena	F	5,225	13	14.4:1	$13,752	38.6
26	Dillon ElemDillon	F	780	2	16.6:1	$11,122	38.5
27	Libby K-12 SchoolsLibby	F	1,164	3	16.2:1	$12,407	38.3
28	Missoula H SMissoula	F	3,966	4	13.2:1	$13,142	38
29	Whitefish ElemWhitefish	F	1,313	2	14.6:1	$12,488	38
30	Wolf Point ElemWolf Point	F	511	3	11.5:1	$16,053	38
31	Glasgow K-12 SchoolsGlasgow	F	769	3	12.8:1	$13,532	37.7
32	Great Falls H SGreat Falls	F	3,095	2	15.3:1	$10,583	37.5
33	Great Falls ElemGreat Falls	F	7,032	17	15.2:1	$12,146	36.9
34	Billings ElemBillings	F	10,988	28	15.9:1	$12,015	36.5
35	Hardin ElemHardin	F	1,284	5	10.5:1	$17,138	36.4
36	Havre ElemHavre	F	1,199	4	18.9:1	$12,094	36.3
37	Florence-Carlton K-12 SchlsFlorence	F	790	3	13.3:1	$11,908	35.7
38	Miles City ElemMiles City	F	953	5	14:1	$12,293	35.6
39	Hamilton K-12 SchoolsHamilton	F	1,666	4	13.2:1	$11,260	35.5
40	Billings H SBillings	F	5,610	3	16.7:1	$12,233	35.3
41	Townsend K-12 SchoolsTownsend	F	706	3	14:1	$12,363	34.7
42	Hellgate ElemMissoula	F	1,498	4	16.4:1	$11,166	34.5
43	Somers ElemSomers	F	555	2	13.3:1	$10,697	34
44	Elder Grove ElemBillings	F	689	2	18.1:1	$9,504	33.5
45	Columbia Falls ElemColumbia Falls	F	1,562	3	14.2:1	$11,977	33.3
46	West Valley ElemKalispell	F	762	2	16.2:1	$10,310	32.5
47	Lewistown ElemLewistown	F	888	4	14.3:1	$11,521	32.3
48	East Helena K-12East Helena	F	1,952	5	16.3:1	$10,003	32.2
49	Ronan ElemRonan	F	1,105	3	13.4:1	$12,176	29.3
50	Belgrade ElemBelgrade	F	2,374	4	14.3:1	$11,571	28.3

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best school districts in Montana? ▼

The top-ranked district in Montana is Browning Elem in Browning with 1,266 students across 7 schools. Average quality score: 49/100. Rankings are based on average school quality scores from NCES data.

How are district rankings calculated? ▼

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be ranked.

How many school districts are in Montana? ▼

Montana has 50+ school districts serving 146,015 students. The statewide average student-teacher ratio is 11.8:1.

Explore More for Montana

All Schools → Best Schools → Highest Spending → Funding Equity → Absenteeism Data →

Methodology

Districts are ranked by the average quality score of their schools. Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 metrics: student-teacher ratio, school counselor availability, gifted program access, and chronic absenteeism rates. Districts must have at least 500 students and 2+ schools to be included. This measures school-level resources, not test scores. Higher average scores indicate districts where schools generally have smaller classes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.