These Are The 10 Most Miserable Cities In Montana

Do you live in one of the most miserable places in Montana?

According to a Harris Poll taken in October of 2015, only a third of Americans say they are truly happy. That’s too bad, considering that Americans – especially folks in Montana – don’t really have it too bad, in the grand scheme of things.

But, we were curious – which Montana cities might be the most miserable? We’re about to find out, using science and data.

After analyzing the largest cities, we sadly present the most miserable cities in the Treasure State:

1. Pablo
2. Lame Deer
3. Hamilton
4. North Browning
5. Lakeside
6. South Browning
7. Polson
8. Hardin
9. Missoula
10. Libby

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. If you have a smile on your face, you probably don’t live in one of these cities.

Oh, and by the way, Montana City is the happiest place in MT.

How do you decide if a city in Montana is miserable or not?

In order to rank the unhappiest places in Montana, we had to determine what criteria makes people happy. It isn’t a stretch to assume that happy people earn great salaries, are relatively stress free, and have a stable home life.

So we went to the Census’s American Community Survey 2010-2014 report for the criteria, flipped the list, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:

• Percentage of residents with a college degree
• Average commute times
• Unemployment rates
• Cost of living
• % of married couples
• % of home owners
• Poverty rate

After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 52 places in Montana with over 2,000 people.

We then ranked each place from one to 52 for each of the seven criteria with a score of one being the most miserable (Any ties were given to the larger place).

Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Miserable Index for each place with the lowest overall Miserable Index “earning” the title “Most Miserable City In Montana”.

If you’d like to see the complete list of states, most miserable to happiest, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the unabridged chart.

1. Pablo

Population: 2,616
People Who Own Their Home: 43.1%
Married Adults: 32.9%

2. Lame Deer

Population: 2,131
People Who Own Their Home: 36.8%
Married Adults: 32.3%

3. Hamilton

Population: 4,486
People Who Own Their Home: 45.3%
Married Adults: 41.9%

4. North Browning

Population: 2,363
People Who Own Their Home: 30.0%
Married Adults: 28.3%

5. Lakeside

Population: 2,755
People Who Own Their Home: 52.6%
Married Adults: 51.4%

6. South Browning

Population: 2,045
People Who Own Their Home: 29.8%
Married Adults: 38.1%

7. Polson

Population: 4,580
People Who Own Their Home: 39.8%
Married Adults: 43.7%

8. Hardin

Population: 3,720
People Who Own Their Home: 47.4%
Married Adults: 45.5%

9. Missoula

Population: 68,377
People Who Own Their Home: 44.9%
Married Adults: 38.1%

10. Libby

Population: 2,667
People Who Own Their Home: 47.0%
Married Adults: 35.4%

There You Have It

Like we said earlier, trying to determine the most miserable cities in Montana is usually a subjective matter. But if you’re analyzing cities where people are not stable, where you’re stuck in traffic, and no one spent the time to go to college, then this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the happiest cities in MT, according to science:

Most Happy: Montana City
2nd Most Happy: Colstrip
3rd Most Happy: Lewistown

For more Montana reading , check out:

• If You’re From Montana This Will Be The Most Jaw-Dropping Thing You See Today. Guaranteed.
• These Are The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Montana
• These Are The 10 Drunkest Cities In Montana

Detailed List Of Miserable Places In Montana

City	Rank	Population	People Who Own Their Home	Married Adults
Pablo	1	2,616	43.1%	32.9%
Lame Deer	2	2,131	36.8%	32.3%
Hamilton	3	4,486	45.3%	41.9%
North Browning	4	2,363	30.0%	28.3%
Lakeside	5	2,755	52.6%	51.4%
South Browning	6	2,045	29.8%	38.1%
Polson	7	4,580	39.8%	43.7%
Hardin	8	3,720	47.4%	45.5%
Missoula	9	68,377	44.9%	38.1%
Libby	10	2,667	47.0%	35.4%
East Missoula	11	2,597	71.2%	38.7%
Kalispell	12	20,629	48.8%	46.3%
Bozeman	13	39,123	40.9%	35.0%
Dillon	14	4,181	47.0%	35.8%
Livingston	15	7,086	56.9%	45.6%
Big Sky	16	2,694	18.3%	51.3%
Anaconda-Deer Lodge County	17	9,243	55.6%	51.6%
Whitefish	18	6,542	39.2%	59.8%
Shelby	19	3,096	49.5%	44.4%
Cut Bank	20	2,947	51.4%	44.8%
Red Lodge	21	2,337	40.4%	48.6%
Billings	22	106,979	59.7%	46.8%
Wolf Point	23	2,730	50.9%	45.0%
Great Falls	24	59,017	57.4%	48.3%
Helena	25	29,142	52.3%	44.0%
Belgrade	26	7,625	51.6%	50.4%
Orchard Homes	27	5,410	61.1%	55.8%
Townsend	28	2,033	66.8%	51.7%
Helena Valley Southeast	29	7,340	85.7%	49.6%
Evergreen	30	6,711	66.0%	50.9%
Columbia Falls	31	4,765	52.9%	54.0%
Glendive	32	5,167	54.4%	49.7%
Lolo	33	3,994	83.2%	56.9%
Lockwood	34	6,943	79.1%	49.3%
Bigfork	35	4,375	46.2%	65.0%
Glasgow	36	3,327	54.9%	51.1%
Conrad	37	2,600	59.4%	51.0%
East Helena	38	2,497	58.1%	50.2%
Sidney	39	5,888	58.0%	52.4%
Miles City	40	8,553	60.1%	50.8%
Columbus	41	2,250	67.3%	59.6%
Havre	42	9,668	59.0%	52.7%
Deer Lodge	43	3,085	57.6%	54.5%
Laurel	44	6,887	66.8%	52.6%
Four Corners	45	3,264	66.7%	65.3%
Helena Valley West Central	46	8,502	82.3%	60.6%
Malmstrom AFB	47	3,625	0.8%	68.9%
Helena Valley Northeast	48	2,731	79.4%	60.3%
Helena Valley Northwest	49	3,939	90.0%	63.6%
Lewistown	50	5,879	61.4%	51.0%
Colstrip	51	2,243	75.1%	68.1%
Montana City	52	2,683	90.9%	69.4%