Montana · NCES CCD 2024-25

Best Public Schools in Montana

Top 50 schools ranked by resource quality score, based on student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance.

Compiled from official source data by .
61/100
Top score
C+
Top grade
50/100
Avg score (top 50)
50
Schools ranked

The ranking in one line

Colstrip High School in Colstrip is Montana's top-resourced public school, scoring 61/100 on the NCES resource index.

61/100
top score (grade C+)
2
schools at the top grade (C+)
50/100
average across the top 50
# School GradeScore
1 Colstrip High School Colstrip C+ 61
2 Bainville School Bainville C+ 60
3 Monforton School Bozeman C 57
4 Belt School Belt C 57
5 Broadview School Broadview C 57
6 Park High School Livingston C 55
7 Broadwater High School Townsend C 55
8 Red Lodge High School Red Lodge C 55
9 Scobey School Scobey C 55
10 Blue Creek School Billings C 55
11 Ennis High School Ennis C 55
12 Three Forks 7-8 Three Forks C- 53
13 Fort Benton High School Fort Benton C- 53
14 Pine Butte Elementary Sch Colstrip C- 52
15 Frank Brattin Middle Schl Colstrip C- 52
16 Longfellow School Bozeman C- 51
17 Joliet High School Joliet C- 51
18 Roosevelt Junior High Red Lodge C- 51
19 Joliet School Joliet C- 50
20 Meadowlark School Chinook C- 50
21 Shelby High School Shelby C- 50
22 Philipsburg School Philipsburg C- 50
23 Bozeman High School Bozeman D 49
24 Lockwood High School Lockwood D 49
25 Monforton 6-8 Bozeman D 49
26 Lodge Grass School Lodge Grass D 49
27 Anderson School Bozeman D 49
28 Malta 6-7-8 Malta D 49
29 Fairfield High School Fairfield D 49
30 Jefferson School Helena D 48
31 Corvallis 7-8 Corvallis D 48
32 Mountain View School Red Lodge D 48
33 Edna Thomas School Corvallis D 48
34 Whittier School Great Falls D 48
35 Emily Dickinson School Bozeman D 47
36 Sidney High School Sidney D 47
37 Glasgow Middle School Glasgow D 47
38 Amsterdam School Manhattan D 47
39 Canyon Creek School Billings D 47
40 Cascade School Cascade D 47
41 Laurel Middle School Laurel D 46
42 Meadowlark Elementary Bozeman D 46
43 Chief Charlo School Missoula D 46
44 Fred W Graff School Laurel D 46
45 Central School Helena D 46
46 Manhattan H S Manhattan D 46
47 Fairfield Elementary School Fairfield D 46
48 Chief Joseph Middle School Bozeman D 45
49 Three Forks Elem School Three Forks D 45
50 Montana City School Clancy D 45

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best public schools in Montana? ▼

The top-rated school in Montana is Colstrip High School in Colstrip with a quality score of 61/100 (grade C+). Rankings are based on student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, gifted programs, and attendance rates from NCES data.

How are school quality scores calculated? ▼

Quality scores (0-100) are computed from NCES data across 4 metrics: student-teacher ratio (lower is better, national avg ~16:1), counselor availability (ASCA recommends 250:1), gifted program availability, and chronic absenteeism rate (lower is better). This measures school resources, not test scores.

Explore More for Montana

All Schools → Largest Schools → Absenteeism Data → Highest Spending → National Ranking →

Methodology

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. Schools must have at least 50 students and data for one or more metrics. This measures resource quality, not test scores. Higher scores indicate smaller class sizes, better counselor access, and lower absenteeism.

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