Counties / Montana / Golden Valley County

Golden Valley County, MT

FIPS 30037 · population 899 · outside every metro area

$244k
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
$244k
▲ 10.0% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$783
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
$1,339
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 cumulativen/anot annualized · through n/a
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+10.0%FHFA HPIperiod n/an/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$212k
Surveyed gross rent$783
Rent burden 30%+15.8%
Median year built1974
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
22.0%vacant
482estimated housing units
Occupied tenure18.9% renter
owner 81.1%renter 18.9%
Structure mix82.2% single-family
Single-family 82.2%20+ units 0.0%Mobile home 14.9%Other 2.9%
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 jobs228▲ 0.9% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments44annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$986▲ 5.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorProfessional and business services25.4% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.9%WEEKLY WAGE+5.7%Professional and business services25.4%
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

Golden Valley County’s underwriting tension is a 10.02% rise in Zillow’s median home value against an unmeasurable rent return, thin purchase activity, and inland-flood exposure. The listed $243,679 is a county median home value, not a closed-sale price. Investors able to obtain property-level rent, condition, insurance, and flood-zone evidence should investigate; those requiring demonstrated cash flow or deep market liquidity should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,339 is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent and cannot replace missing market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.53%, and median annual property tax is $1,132. Those figures document a carrying-cost component, but they do not establish the tax bill, insurance cost, or operating expense of a specific property.

03Demand & competition

QCEW reports 228 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces, up 0.89% from the prior annual average, with a $986 average weekly wage. Professional and business services, the largest disclosed private supersector, accounts for 36 covered jobs and 25.35% of total private covered employment; it is not a description of the full county economy. Tax-return migration records show 21 households moved out with average AGI of $49,190, while inbound mover data are not published. Of 4 purchase mortgages, none were classified as investor purchases, for a 0% investor share; this limited volume does not establish broad owner-occupant demand or absence of investor interest.

04Risk & next checks

The modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.16% of building value expected lost per year, consistent with the county’s inland-flood hazard, but it is not an asset-level flood determination or insurance quote. FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI is not published, so it cannot corroborate or challenge Zillow’s direction. Realtor.com MLS listing-price, active-listing, days-on-market, price-reduction, and pending data are also not published; visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions cannot be assessed. Next checks are property-level market rent, flood insurance, tax assessment, condition, and current MLS evidence.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Golden Valley 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
Ryegate town273Lavina town134Golden Valley Colony CDP27
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

3 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Ryegate townIncorporated place
    273
  2. 02
    Lavina townIncorporated place
    134
  3. 03
    Golden Valley Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    27

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

0.163% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.53%

$1,132 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migrationn/a

Household flow not published

Arriving vs leaving incomen/a

Income flow not published

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors0.0%

0 of 4 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. Actual market rent may not support a sufficient return because market asking rent and gross yield are unavailable.
  2. County-level modeled flood loss may differ materially from a property’s flood zone, insurance premium, and mitigation needs.
  3. Missing MLS and FHFA evidence may leave pricing liquidity and market direction inadequately verified.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent cannot be used as market rent.

What does the employment evidence measure?

It measures annual average covered jobs located at county workplaces and average covered-worker wages, not resident employment or unemployment.

Can visible listing supply and seller concessions be assessed?

No. Realtor.com active listings, days on market, pending activity, and price-reduction data are not published.