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When it comes to being a snob, you’ve got all types. You’ve got your wine snobs, beer snobs, and food snobs. There are book snobs, movie snobs, and theatre (yes, with an re) snobs. These days, you’ve probably even got snob snobs—people who think their type of snob is better than yours.
Up in Montana, you might not think of folks as ‘snobby’ as the others in the northeast. But, they’re out there, for sure. Especially in certain areas of Montana, where you can call these true northerners snooty or even just plain loaded if you will.
In fact, in these 10 places, it’s downright snobby:
- Red Lodge (Photos)
- Whitefish (Photos)
- Bigfork
- Four Corners
- Montana City
- Lolo
- Helena Valley Northwest
- Big Sky
- Frenchtown
- Lakeside (Photos)
Now we’re not so full of ourselves as to just come up with this list from nowhere. We actually analyzed 66 places in the state. And we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with these cities.
Actually, if we had their wealth and lifestyle, we’d probably be a little snobby, too.
For more Montana reading, check out:
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How we determined the snobbiest places in Montana
You think we’d just come up with this list willy nilly? Not a chance.
What we did is, we gathered up all of the places in Montana with populations of 1,500 people or more. This left us with a total of 66 places. Then, we looked at each place in terms of these snoot-er-iffic criteria: (And no, it’s not a word. English snob.)
- Median home price (Higher is snobbier)
- Median household income (Higher is snobbier)
- Percent of population with a college degree (Higher is snobbier)
- Private schools per capita (Higher is snobbier)
- Theaters per capita (Higher is snobbier)
- Art galleries per capita (Higher is snobbier)
From there, we ranked each of our 66 places in each category with scores from one to 66. We then averaged each place’s ranking into one overall score, where the lowest score went to the snobbiest place in Montana. So let’s all flip a table in honor of Red Lodge (with our pinkies up, of course.)
Now before you get upset and ruin your blowout or something drastic here, let’s remember that this is all in good fun. Would we live in one of these 10 places if we had the chance? Of course we would!
Now, let’s put on your monocle and take a look at what make these places so snobby; for a more complete list, just hop down to the end of the post.
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1. Red Lodge
Population: 2,353
Median household income: $54,373
Median home price: $224,000
College degrees: 32%
2. Whitefish
Population: 6,540
Median household income: $43,620
Median home price: $261,000
College degrees: 44%
3. Bigfork
Population: 4,356
Median household income: $43,389
Median home price: $322,200
College degrees: 20%
4. Four Corners
Population: 3,000
Median household income: $70,293
Median home price: $315,293
College degrees: 34%
5. Montana City
Population: 2,800
Median household income: $98,893
Median home price: $308,283
College degrees: 29%
6. Lolo
Population: 3,380
Median household income: $60,293
Median home price: $218,000
College degrees: 27%
7. Helena Valley Northwest
Population: 3,500
Median household income: $64,903
Median home price: $214,292
College degrees: 30%
8. Big Sky
Population: 2,266
Median household income: $38,034
Median home price: $380,933
College degrees: 45%
9. Frenchtown
Population: 1,566
Median household income: $87,293
Median home price: $215,293
College degrees: 18%
10. Lakeside
Population: 2,286
Median household income: $54,223
Median home price: $292,293
College degrees: 26%
Summing Up The Humble Pie
Sure, we might have poked a little harmless fun at these 10 snobby places in Montana, but hey, it’s only because we’re jealous. High incomes, expensive homes, and excellent educations? That sounds pretty charming to us. Who wouldn’t want that!
If you’re interested, here are the least snobby places in Montana: South Browning, Pablo, North Browning, Lame Deer and Roundup.
Desktop users, there’s a chart below with all snobby cities in Montana ranked from first to last.