Counties / Montana / Granite County

Granite County, MT

FIPS 30039 · population 3,462 · outside every metro area

$474k
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
$474k
▲ 1.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$675
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
$1,053
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.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+65.7%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+1.4%FHFA HPI2025−1.7%
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$353k
Surveyed gross rent$675
Rent burden 30%+46.6%
Median year built1980
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
41.8%vacant
2,602estimated housing units
Occupied tenure22.1% renter
owner 77.9%renter 22.1%
Structure mix84.9% single-family
Single-family 84.9%20+ units 0.0%Mobile home 10.3%Other 4.7%
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 jobs931▼ 3.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments176annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$892▲ 4.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorLeisure and hospitality42.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−3.4%WEEKLY WAGE+4.8%Leisure and hospitality42.6%
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

Granite County presents a price-direction conflict rather than a clear entry signal: Zillow’s county median home value is $473,877 and rose 1.41%, while FHFA’s annual repeat-transaction HPI fell 1.74%. These observations use different methods and vintages, so they do not resolve one another and must not be blended. This county warrants comparable-sale and replacement-demand checks before an underwriter treats either direction as settled. Buyers relying on broad appreciation evidence should be cautious.

02Housing economics

No median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,053 per month is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot be substituted into yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.60%, with $2,130 median annual tax, which identifies a disclosed carrying cost but does not establish a tax bill for a specific acquisition. With rent absent, the relationship between the home value and income remains untested.

03Demand & competition

Migration data show 69 net tax-return households moving in, and incoming movers’ average income exceeded outgoing movers’ by $6,517; this is household-flow evidence, not proof of tenant or buyer demand. Investor purchase mortgages accounted for 1 of 29 reported purchase mortgages, or 3.45%, indicating limited measured non-owner participation but a small transaction base. Annual QCEW reports 931 covered jobs located at county workplaces, down 3.42%, and an $892 average weekly covered-worker wage. Leisure and hospitality is the largest disclosed private supersector. These are workplace covered-employment measures, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss equals 0.19% of building value annually, and inland flood is the dominant named hazard; this is a county-level modeled loss ratio, not a parcel-specific damage estimate. Missing MLS listing-market measures prevent a read on asking-price competition, visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions. Missing market rent prevents income and yield underwriting, while unreported property-level flood zone, insurance cost, condition, lease terms, and sale comparables prevent an all-in operating-cost and value conclusion. Next checks are property-specific flood and insurance records, current asking rents and signed leases, tax bills, and closed-sale comparables.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Granite 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
Philipsburg town754Drummond town277Maxville CDP203Hall CDP64
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

4 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Philipsburg townIncorporated place
    754
  2. 02
    Drummond townIncorporated place
    277
  3. 03
    Maxville CDPCensus-designated place
    203
  4. 04
    Hall CDPCensus-designated place
    64

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

0.187% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.60%

$2,130 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+69

157 in · 88 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$6,517

$73,210 arriving · $66,693 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors3.5%

1 of 29 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. The conflicting Zillow and FHFA directions may leave subject pricing unsupported after closed-sale review.
  2. Unpublished market rent means actual income may differ materially from the HUD payment standard.
  3. Inland-flood exposure and insurance costs may vary substantially by parcel beyond the county-level climate model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

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

Do the supplied price measures point in the same direction?

No. Zillow reports a positive county home-value change while FHFA reports a negative annual repeat-transaction HPI change; the methods and vintages differ.

Does QCEW establish resident employment conditions?

No. It measures annual average covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast.