Counties / Montana / Liberty County

Liberty County, MT

FIPS 30051 · population 1,952 · outside every metro area

$226k
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
$226k
▲ 3.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$710
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
$1,034
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+3.5%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$169k
Surveyed gross rent$710
Rent burden 30%+44.5%
Median year built1966
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
13.5%vacant
837estimated housing units
Occupied tenure36.6% renter
owner 63.4%renter 36.6%
Structure mix75.6% single-family
Single-family 75.6%20+ units 3.9%Mobile home 8.5%Other 12.0%
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 jobs517▲ 0.8% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments94annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$826▲ 3.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities36.9% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.8%WEEKLY WAGE+3.8%Trade, transportation, and utilities36.9%
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

Liberty County is a thin-market underwriting question, not a ready yield screen: Zillow’s county median home value is $226,085, up 3.46% year over year, in a county of 1,952 residents. That value movement must be weighed against limited scale; buyers relying on liquid exit comparables, standardized rents, or portfolio volume should be cautious. This is a Zillow home-value measure, not a closed-sale price. No FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI observation is published to confirm or challenge its direction.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot yet support a return conclusion. Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed against the Zillow value. HUD’s $1,034 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not local market rent, and cannot substitute in the calculation. The effective property-tax rate is 0.93%, and median annual tax is $1,570, useful carrying-cost inputs but not a parcel tax forecast. Missing expenses, vacancy, insurance, and parcel assessments prevent a cash-flow or coverage conclusion.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com MLS evidence shows 4 active listings, down 50% year over year, with a 97-day median marketing time and 28.57% pending-to-active ratio. Less visible supply and longer marketing time point in different directions; these are asking-market conditions, not sale prices or proof of buyer demand. Reported net migration is -38 tax-return households, while incoming movers’ average AGI exceeds outgoing movers’ by a calculated $16,701. The mix is net outflow alongside a higher-income incoming cohort, requiring transaction-level validation. Investors accounted for 0% of 5 reported purchases: no recorded investor mortgage participation, but too small a base to establish durable competition.

04Risk & next checks

Risk limits are material. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual building-value loss is 0.12%; that ratio should be paired with property-level flood zone, insurance quote, deductible, and mitigation review rather than converted into a dollar loss. QCEW reports 517 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces and an $826 average weekly covered-worker wage; Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector at 36.86% of private covered employment. These are not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. Verify rent rolls and current asking rents, closed-sale comparables, title and tax history, flood insurance availability, and the basis for the limited purchase and migration counts before reaching an asset-level conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Liberty 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
Chester town749Joplin CDP265Riverview Colony CDP192Eagle Creek Colony CDP44Sage Creek Colony CDP30Whitlash CDP8
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

6 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Chester townIncorporated place
    749
  2. 02
    Joplin CDPCensus-designated place
    265
  3. 03
    Riverview Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    192
  4. 04
    Eagle Creek Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    44
  5. 05
    Sage Creek Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    30
  6. 06
    Whitlash CDPCensus-designated place
    8

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

0.120% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.93%

$1,570 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-38

30 in · 68 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$16,701

$32,833 arriving · $16,132 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors0.0%

0 of 5 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings4▼ 50.0% year over year
Median days on market97▲ 12.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced0.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 13.5% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

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 asking rent, operating costs, and vacancy may not support the eventual cash-flow case.
  2. Flood insurance cost, coverage, or mitigation requirements may differ materially by parcel.
  3. Thin listings and few recorded purchases may make valuation and exit evidence unreliable.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

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

What does the record show about investor buyer participation?

The reported investor-share measure records no investor mortgage participation, but the purchase base is limited.

What hazard requires parcel diligence?

Inland flood; the record provides a modeled building-value loss ratio but no parcel-specific insurance or flood-zone evidence.