Montana has a kaleidoscope of different terrains from mountains to grasslands to lush valleys.
Those wide-open spaces of America's fourth-largest state — which is similar in size to entire countries, including Norway and Japan — have become a beacon for Americans clamoring for a different pace of life.
Montana realtor Airika Lakkala, who's based in the southwestern mining hub of Butte, said a "sense of tranquility" draws newcomers to the Big Sky state. Its way of life is fiercely protected by locals.
"The state's vast wilderness appeals to those seeking a peaceful and scenic lifestyle," Lakkala told Business Insider.
Montana has plenty of scenery to choose from, with eight national parks and monuments, 14 ski mountains, and nearly 170,000 miles of riverways — enough for even the most fervent outdoor enthusiast.
But affordability is also a major draw. In a stalemate housing market where neither buyers nor sellers are winning, Americans are seeking homes with prices within reach wherever they can find them. Montana, with a population of about 1.1 million people, offers dozens of markets that fit the bill.
Data analytics site Niche compiled a list of the places with the lowest cost of living in Montana. Niche considered factors such as the ratio of home value to median income and the prices of necessities like gas and groceries.
Niche's ranking included Wolf Point and North Browning, communities on two of Montana's seven American Indian reservations. Because those communities have been historically marginalized and housing is often intended for indigenous members of the community, Business Insider has omitted them from this roundup of the cheapest places to live in Montana.
Read on for the seven communities with the lowest cost of living in Montana. Many of these places offer a small-town feel stacked with history, said Dylan Conger, a real-estate agent based in Bozeman. (Bozeman, while not one of Montana's cheapest places to live, is one of the fastest-growing cities in the US.)
For each one, BI included its average home price from Zillow. The rent, income, population, and local insights are from Niche, which uses data from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics and also crowdsources reviews from residents.