Counties / Montana / Big Horn County

Big Horn County, MT

FIPS 30003 · population 12,891 · outside every metro area

$228k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$228k
▼ 0.3% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$697
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,302
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulative+48.8%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−0.3%FHFA HPI2025n/a
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$143k
Surveyed gross rent$697
Rent burden 30%+21.6%
Median year built1976
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
15.5%vacant
4,527estimated housing units
Occupied tenure33.3% renter
owner 66.7%renter 33.3%
Structure mix69.9% single-family
Single-family 69.9%20+ units 2.2%Mobile home 19.0%Other 8.9%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs3,674▼ 1.8% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments270annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,084▲ 0.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities28.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.8%WEEKLY WAGE+0.7%Trade, transportation, and utilities28.6%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Big Horn County presents a valuation-versus-income underwriting tension: recent county home-value movement is softer while the longer repeat-transaction index is strongly positive, but no measured market rent anchors cash flow. Investors needing current income verification should investigate; those relying on appreciation evidence or county averages should be cautious. County-level evidence cannot establish a subject property's performance.

02Housing economics

At Zillow's 2026-06 county observation, the median home value was $228,463, down 0.31% year over year. FHFA's 2025 repeat-transaction HPI was up 48.80% cumulatively over five years. This longer historical index gain does not establish Zillow's current direction; the index is not a home value, and its vintage and method cannot be combined or averaged with Zillow. Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. The HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent. An effective property-tax rate of 1.10% and median annual tax of $1,574 are carrying-cost inputs, not property-specific bills.

03Demand & competition

The 2025 QCEW annual average counted 3,674 covered jobs at county workplaces, down 1.84%; it is not resident employment or an unemployment measure. Covered workers averaged $1,084 weekly. Trade, transportation, and utilities, the largest disclosed private supersector, accounted for 28.56% of private covered jobs, not the whole economy. Tax-return migration was net -31 households, although incoming movers' average AGI exceeded outgoing movers' by $70. The 11.36% investor share captures non-occupant purchase mortgages; it does not establish competition for a particular property. This mix warrants local tenant-depth and buyer-depth checks rather than a county-wide demand conclusion.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.21% of building value per year; it is not an insurance quote or property-specific loss estimate. Realtor.com MLS listing measures are not published, preventing a read on asking prices, visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions. Next checks are current asking rents and leases, property-level flood and insurance records, MLS listings and closed transactions, and actual tax bills.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Big Horn County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Hardin city3.7KCrow Agency CDP2.2KMuddy CDP724Busby CDP569Pryor CDP497Wyola CDP481Lodge Grass town429Fort Smith CDP78
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

10 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Hardin cityIncorporated place
    3,742
  2. 02
    Crow Agency CDPCensus-designated place
    2,192
  3. 03
    Muddy CDPCensus-designated place
    724
  4. 04
    Busby CDPCensus-designated place
    569
  5. 05
    Pryor CDPCensus-designated place
    497
  6. 06
    Wyola CDPCensus-designated place
    481
  7. 07
    Lodge Grass townIncorporated place
    429
  8. 08
    Fort Smith CDPCensus-designated place
    78
  9. 09
    St. Xavier CDPCensus-designated place
    55
  10. 10
    Forty Mile Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    0

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.211% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.10%

$1,574 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-31

198 in · 229 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$70

$47,712 arriving · $47,642 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.4%

5 of 44 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Unpublished market rents and operating costs leave property cash flow untestable from this record.
  2. Property-specific inland-flood exposure, insurance cost, and mitigation needs are unknown.
  3. Missing MLS supply, price-reduction, marketing-time, and closed-sale evidence could alter the entry-price read.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Market rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent is a payment standard rather than measured asking rent.

Do the Zillow and FHFA figures provide one comparable appreciation rate?

No. Zillow reports a county home-value observation, while FHFA is a repeat-transaction index with a different period and method.

What listing-market evidence is available for pricing and supply?

No Realtor.com median listing price, active-listing, days-on-market, or price-reduction figures are published in the record.