Counties / Montana / Toole County

Toole County, MT

FIPS 30101 · population 5,061 · outside every metro area

$190k
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
$190k
▲ 2.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$826
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
$1,230
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.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+40.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.1%FHFA HPI2025+0.3%
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$218k
Surveyed gross rent$826
Rent burden 30%+41.3%
Median year built1966
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
20.2%vacant
2,322estimated housing units
Occupied tenure36.9% renter
owner 63.1%renter 36.9%
Structure mix75.8% single-family
Single-family 75.8%20+ units 1.9%Mobile home 9.7%Other 12.6%
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 jobs1,758▼ 2.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments225annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,161▲ 8.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities32.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.0%WEEKLY WAGE+8.2%Trade, transportation, and utilities32.1%
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

Toole County’s decision tension is a visible value increase without published market rent or listing-market depth, so the record supports diligence rather than a cash-flow conclusion. Zillow’s county median home value was $189,510 at its 2026-06 observation, up 2.06% year over year. FHFA’s repeat-transaction HPI, separately reported for 2025, rose 0.34% over its annual interval. The index is not a home value, and the distinct methods and vintages cannot be blended. Investors reliant on rent or resale liquidity should be cautious.

02Housing economics

County market rent is not published; therefore gross yield cannot be computed. The $1,230 HUD two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot substitute for market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.87%, with median annual tax of $1,908. That carrying-cost evidence can be budgeted, but it cannot establish rent coverage or a net operating result; property-level tax bills and operating costs remain unreported.

03Demand & competition

QCEW’s 2025 annual average records 1,758 covered jobs at county workplaces, down 2.01%, while the covered-worker average weekly wage increased 8.20%. These are neither resident employment nor a forecast. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector and accounts for 32.11% of private covered employment, a concentration to test against the tenant base. Net migration was 39 tax-return households; yet incoming movers’ average AGI was $31,775 versus $41,990 for outbound movers, a calculated $10,215 gap. Thus the headcount gain does not establish stronger purchasing power. Investor purchases were 0.00% of 32 total purchases: limited recorded investor participation, not proof of weak or strong buyer demand.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the stated dominant hazard. The modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.09% of building value; it is not a parcel-specific dollar loss or an insurance quote. Realtor.com figures are not published, preventing an MLS-based read of asking prices, visible supply, marketing time, or seller concessions; those figures would not be closed-sale evidence in any event. Next checks are property-level flood zone, insurance terms and deductibles, market-rent comps, tax bill, and closed-sale comps. Their absence prevents a defensible cash-flow, exit-liquidity, and hazard-cost conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Toole 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
Shelby city3.2KSunburst town301Hillside Colony CDP245Camrose Colony CDP126Kevin town108Sweet Grass CDP70Rimrock Colony CDP39
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

7 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Shelby cityIncorporated place
    3,216
  2. 02
    Sunburst townIncorporated place
    301
  3. 03
    Hillside Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    245
  4. 04
    Camrose Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    126
  5. 05
    Kevin townIncorporated place
    108
  6. 06
    Sweet Grass CDPCensus-designated place
    70
  7. 07
    Rimrock Colony CDPCensus-designated place
    39

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

0.087% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.87%

$1,908 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+39

142 in · 103 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$10,215

$31,775 arriving · $41,990 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors0.0%

0 of 32 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 rent and operating costs could overturn the carrying-cost assessment.
  2. Parcel flood exposure, insurance pricing, and deductibles may differ materially from the county climate model.
  3. Limited purchase evidence and missing MLS measures may not represent resale liquidity or buyer competition.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

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

What does the investor-purchase measure show?

No investor purchases are recorded among the reported purchases; the measure does not establish overall buyer demand.

Which hazard should be checked at the parcel level?

Inland flood.