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At a glance
- Stronger than most towns on: Dining and entertainment, Short commute and Clean air and low disaster risk.
- Weaker than most towns on: Airport access, Safety and Long, healthy lives.
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The 34th largest of the 341 towns we track in Montana.
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Typical household income is 7% below the typical town in Montana.
- 10th of 58 in Montana for towns with the best schools.
A score of 60 or more is stronger than most towns. Under 40 is weaker than most.
Quick answers about Shelby
Where is Shelby?
Shelby is in
Toole County, Montana.
Nearby towns include Kevin, Valier and Conrad.
What is the ZIP code for Shelby?
Shelby has 2 ZIP codes: 59474 and 59435 .
ZIP codes are mail delivery areas, not town borders, so check an address with the
US Postal Service lookup.
How many people live in Shelby?
About 3,216 people live in Shelby , the 34th largest of the 341 towns we track in Montana.
This is a US Census Bureau estimate.
Is Shelby safe?
Shelby scores 20 out of 100 for safety, which is weaker than most towns we track. A higher score means lower crime. The state figure is 450 violent crimes per 100,000 people across the whole state.
How expensive is it to live in Shelby?
Shelby has everyday prices of 96.2 (100 is typical for the US), typical rent of $893 a month and a typical home price of $232,700.
Its cost of living scores 56 out of 100 (a higher score means cheaper), which is close to the middle of the towns we track.
We compare this town with all 27,850 towns we track. A higher score is always better.
Cost of living 56 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Everyday prices (100 = typical for the US) | 96.2 | 53% |
| Typical rent | $893 | 62% |
Jobs and income 41 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Typical household income | $58,413 | 34% |
| Unemployment | 3.7% | 52% |
| Poverty rate | 13.8% | 37% |
A place that is growing 58 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Change in population (5 years) | +4.5% | 59% |
| Change in income (5 years) | +30.6% | 56% |
Home internet and working from home 50 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Homes with fast internet (whole county) | 88.0% | 54% |
| People who work from home | 6.8% | 41% |
State taxes 49 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| State taxes per resident | $4,331 | 45% |
| State income tax per resident | $2,065 | 22% |
| State sales tax per resident | $0 | 98% |
Property taxes 54 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Property tax as a share of home price | 0.87% | 57% |
| Typical property tax paid | $2,013 | 48% |
Housing affordability 38 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Home price compared with yearly income | 4.0× | 27% |
| Share of income spent on rent | 18.3% | 51% |
| Typical home price | $232,700 | 42% |
Space and yard size 44 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Typical rooms per home | 5.5 | 38% |
| Stand-alone houses | 71.3% | 39% |
| People per square mile | 556 | 61% |
Schools 57 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| High-school students in AP or IB classes | 19.6% | 77% |
| High-school students taking college classes | 13.4% | 57% |
| Students who miss 15+ days a year | 36.4% | 21% |
| Graduation rate (class of 2018 or 2019) | 95.0% | 78% |
| Students per teacher | 13.0 | 60% |
| Children in poverty (context, not scored) | 16.6% | 31% |
Diversity & community 57 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Variety of backgrounds (0 to 100) | 33 | 58% |
| Residents born outside the US | 3.0% | 53% |
Health and medical care 62 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Family doctors per 100,000 people (whole county) | 60 | 53% |
| Dentists per 100,000 people (whole county) | 79 | 78% |
| Mental-health providers per 100,000 people (whole county) | 234 | 53% |
| Hospitals in town | 1 | 92% |
| People without health insurance | 6.5% | 46% |
Long, healthy lives 25 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Life expectancy (years) (whole county) | 74.3 | 25% |
| Early deaths (before age 75) (whole county) | 10,313 | 30% |
| Adults in fair or poor health | 21.7% | 31% |
| Adults who had a checkup this year | 65.7% | 2% |
Safety 20 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Homicides per 100,000 people (whole county) | We don't have this yet | — |
| Violent crime per 100,000 people (whole state) | 450 | 20% |
Clean air and low disaster risk 93 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Fine-particle air pollution (whole county) | 5.8 | 89% |
| Risk of floods, storms and other disasters (0 to 100) (whole county) | 13 | 96% |
Short commute 96 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Average commute | 14 min | 96% |
Walkability 76 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Walkability (1 = car needed, 20 = very walkable) | 8.2 | 78% |
| People who walk, bike or ride to work | 3.7% | 69% |
Public transit 40 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Buses and trains per hour | 0.0 | 39% |
| Distance to the nearest stop (meters) | 5,000 | 41% |
Airport access 3 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Miles to major airport | 269 | 3% |
Dining and entertainment 98 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Restaurants and bars per 1,000 residents (whole county) | 3.6 | 98% |
| Entertainment and recreation businesses per 1,000 residents (whole county) | 1.58 | 98% |
Weather 30 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Average temperature | 45°F | — |
| January low | 8°F | — |
| July high | 85°F | — |
| Yearly rain | 13 in | — |
| Yearly snow | 31 in | — |
Pleasant weather for being outdoors 35 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Comfortable days per year | 92 | 24% |
| Sunshine hours per year | 3,395 | 58% |
Other facts
| Typical age | 37.7 |
| Adults with a college degree | 19.5% |
| Hot days per year (90°F+) | 11 |
| Freezing days per year (low 32°F or less) | 164 |
| Residents who belong to a religious group (whole county) | 49.5% |
More towns to explore
Nearby towns in Montana
Largest towns in Toole County
Free tools for Shelby
Each calculator opens with this town's figures filled in. You can change any of them.
How we score towns, and where the figures come from
How we score
- Cost of living: How expensive everyday life is compared with the rest of the US, adjusted for local rent, plus the typical rent.
- Jobs and income: Typical household income, how many people are out of work, and how many live in poverty.
- A place that is growing: How much the number of people and the typical income have grown between the two most recent Census survey periods (each covers five years).
- Home internet and working from home: How many homes in the county have fast internet, and how many people work from home.
- State taxes: Taxes each state government collects per resident: all taxes, income tax and sales tax (US Census). These are amounts collected, not what you would personally pay.
- Property taxes: The typical property tax homeowners pay, and that tax as a share of the typical home price (US Census).
- Housing affordability: Home prices compared with income, rent as a share of income, and the typical home price.
- Space and yard size: Rooms per home, how many homes are stand-alone houses, and how spread out people are. We do not have yard or lot sizes from free sources.
- Schools: The public schools located in the town: how many high-school students take AP/IB or college classes, how many students miss a lot of school, the graduation rate (older data) and class size. Child poverty is shown for context and is not scored. Towns with no high school or too little data are not rated. We do not have test scores yet.
- Diversity & community: The mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the share of residents born outside the US.
- Health and medical care: Open hospitals in each town, family doctors, dentists and mental-health providers per person (county), and how many people have no health insurance.
- Long, healthy lives: How long people live and how many die early (county), and how many residents report fair or poor health or get regular checkups (CDC).
- Safety: Homicides in the county (County Health Rankings) and the state rate of violent crime (FBI, when available).
- Clean air and low disaster risk: Fine-particle air pollution (county) and the risk of floods, storms, fires and other disasters (county, from FEMA).
- Short commute: Average commute time of people who travel to work.
- Walkability: How easy it is to get around on foot near the town center (connected streets, shops close to homes), and how many people walk or bike to work.
- Public transit: How often buses and trains run near the town center, and how far the nearest stop is.
- Airport access: Distance in a straight line to the nearest large airport with passenger flights.
- Dining and entertainment: Restaurants, cafes and bars for every 1,000 residents, and arts, entertainment and recreation businesses for every 1,000 residents, across the whole county (US Census).
- Weather: How close the average temperature and seasons are to the climate you pick, plus comfortable days.
- Pleasant weather for being outdoors: Days that are 65–85°F and dry, and hours of sunshine.
The religious group figure counts members and regular attendees of congregations (US Religion Census 2020). It comes from
congregations, not a survey, so every town in a county shows the same figure.
Where the figures come from
- Population, income, housing and jobs: American Community Survey (US Census), 2024, five-year estimates
- Walkability and public transit: EPA Smart Location Database (neighborhoods near the town center)
- County health figures: County Health Rankings 2025 (Toole County)
- Disaster risk: FEMA National Risk Index (county)
- Hospitals: US Homeland Security hospital list (HIFLD)
- Nearest airport: OurAirports: nearest is Spokane International Airport (GEG)
- Health of residents: CDC local health estimates
- Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis regional prices 2024 (state), adjusted by local rent
- Safety: FBI crime data 2023 (state level)
- State taxes: Census State Tax Collections FY2025 (state level, per resident)
- Dining and entertainment: Census County Business Patterns 2023 (county, for every 1,000 residents)
- Religious groups: US Religion Census 2020 (county level: members divided by population)
- Weather: Open-Meteo archive 2024
- Schools: US school district records (NCES) 2023 (5 public schools in town), US Education Department Civil Rights Data Collection (AP/IB, college classes, absences) 2021-22, graduation rates 2019, Census child poverty estimates 2024
These are estimates. Please check current listings and official sources before you decide.
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