Moving to Montana
New residents have 60 days to get a Montana driver license and must register a car within 60 days. Prices are 5.4% below the U.S. average, and a single filer earning $100,000 pays about $4,289 in Montana income tax. 21,390 households moved here from other states in 2022–2023, most often from California and Washington.
New resident checklist for Montana
Driver license
Start your Montana license application within 60 days of moving (30 days for a commercial license). Bring your valid out-of-state license to avoid testing, plus one document showing lawful presence and one showing your Montana physical address (no PO boxes); apply in person. Before your appointment, use the Montana motor vehicle agency's document checklist for the license type you choose. Standard and REAL ID requirements can differ, including accepted identity and address documents, name-change records and Social Security documentation or permitted alternatives.
Vehicle title and registration
New residents must title and register their vehicles within 60 days of establishing Montana residency. There is no safety or emissions inspection. The title fee is $12.36 for cars, SUVs and light trucks. Switch your auto insurance to a Montana policy.
Taxes or fees on a car you bring: Montana has no general sales tax, so no sales/use tax is due on a vehicle you bring with you; you pay only title and registration fees.
Annual registration: A registration rate set by the vehicle's age ($217 up to 4 years old, $87 at 5 to 10 years, $28 at 11 years or more, plus a 3% administrative fee), plus a county option tax based on the vehicle's original price and other county fees; your county treasurer collects them and can quote exact amounts. Electric vehicles under 6,000 lb (unladen) pay $130 more a year and plug-in hybrids $70; from 6,000 to 10,000 lb it is $190 and $100.
Extra yearly fee for an electric vehicle: $130 (under 6,000 lb unladen; $190 from 6,000 to 10,000 lb).
Establishing residency
You're a Montana resident once you make Montana your home; that starts the 60-day window for your license and plates. Residency also decides where you pay income tax in the year you move; see taxes the year you move.
Your first-month checklist in Montana
- Register to vote at your new address.
- Update your address with the IRS (Form 8822), your employer and your bank.
- Tell payroll where you live and physically work, and review withholding for every state that may tax your pay, including Montana. Keeping a job in another state, commuting, remote-work sourcing rules or income earned before the move can leave an old-state obligation. A new address alone does not mean all old-state withholding should stop. See moving-year tax guidance and your states' official instructions.
- Set up utilities and get renters or homeowners insurance. Owners with a mortgage here paid a median $1,617 a year for homeowners insurance in 2024 (Census ACS); premiums have risen in most states since, so get quotes.
- Keep your lease or closing papers and your license date as proof of when you became a resident.
Still planning the move itself? The moving out of state checklist covers the weeks before you go, and the moving timeline turns your move date into dated deadlines. Our guide to moving with pets covers vet records, travel and local pet rules. Shipping a car? See shipping a car to another state, or take the Where should I move? quiz.
Official site: dojmt.gov. Sources: dojmt.gov (2), flathead.mt.gov, afdc.energy.gov, mvdmt.gov, mvdmt.gov (2), mvdmt.gov (3), archive.legmt.gov, archive.legmt.gov (2). Reviewed 2026-09-25. Rules and fees change; confirm with the Montana motor vehicle agency before you go.
Compare your move to Montana
Pick the state you're leaving and your salary to see your take-home pay, rent and the salary that keeps your buying power the same in Montana.
Equal salary in MT: $80,600
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $80,600 in Montana to match $100,000 in California ($19,400 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary, standard deduction.
The renter figure uses ACS gross rent, which includes tenant-paid electricity, gas, water/sewer and fuels. The buyer figure adds electricity separately to mortgage, property tax and insurance. Food, transport, healthcare, other spending and one-time moving costs are excluded. These are selected-cost changes, not total savings. State medians may differ from your neighborhood and current quotes.
| Tax on $100,000 | California | Montana |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | $13,170 | $13,170 |
| Social Security + Medicare | $7,650 | $7,650 |
| State income tax | $4,911 | $4,289 |
| State payroll programs (UI, disability, paid leave, transit) | $1,300 | $0 |
| Take-home pay | $72,969 | $74,891 |
Full reports for the most common moves to Montana: California to Montana, Washington to Montana, Colorado to Montana, Oregon to Montana, Idaho to Montana and Texas to Montana.
Living in Montana: costs, taxes and risk
Of the 51 (the 50 states and D.C.), Montana is in the best 10 for electric bills and modeled natural hazard county-score means, and not in the worst 10 on any.
- Median rent
- $1,177/mo U.S. $1,487
- Cost to own the median home
- $2,699/mo U.S. $2,354
- Take-home on $100,000
- $74,891 $188 less than in the median state
- Property tax (effective)
- 0.69% median $2,939/yr
- County-score mean
- 67.1 of 100 High county-score mean
- Moved in from other states
- 21,390 households, IRS 2022–2023
Pros and cons of living in Montana
How Montana ranks among all 51 (the 50 states and D.C.) on 11 measures of costs, taxes, risk and income. Top 10 means among the 10 best for someone moving in, Bottom 10 among the 10 worst.
Where Montana ranks best
- Top 5 Lowest electric bills: $111 a month on average (EIA 2025), 5th lowest of 51.
- Top 10 Lowest modeled county-score means: Population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores: 67.1 of 100, 9th lowest of 51.
Where Montana ranks worst
Montana is not in the worst 10 on any of these measures. Its weakest is health premiums, 11th highest of 51.
Measures: state income tax, overall prices, rent, cost to own a home, property tax rate, homeowners insurance, electric bills, car insurance, health premiums, modeled natural hazard county-score means, household income. State income tax is for a single filer earning $100,000 under 2026 rules, including the average county income tax in Indiana and Maryland. Ties share a rank.
Where new Montana residents come from
In the latest IRS migration data (2022–2023), 21,390 households filed their taxes in Montana after filing in another state the year before. California sent the most, 2,817 households (13% of the total). Montana gained a net 3,096 households from other states that year.
Five-year trend
Moves to Montana from other states peaked in 2020–21 at 23,712 households, then fell 10% to 21,390 in 2022–23, up 19% from 2018–19. Montana gained households from other states on net in all five years.
IRS SOI state-to-state migration files, tax years 2018–19 to 2022–23. Net gain or loss by year: 2018–19 +2,440, 2019–20 +5,481, 2020–21 +7,465, 2021–22 +5,434, 2022–23 +3,096.
Cost of living in Montana vs the U.S.
Overall prices in Montana are 5.4% below the U.S. average, 22nd cheapest of 51. The widest gap is in utilities (72.3), 28% below the U.S. level.
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024.
- Average electric bill
- $111/mo U.S. $151
- Car insurance, per car
- $975/yr U.S. $1,282
- Health plan, age 40
- $692/mo U.S. $625
EIA 2025 average residential bills, NAIC 2023 average auto insurance expenditure, KFF 2026 benchmark silver Marketplace premium before subsidies.
Taxes in Montana: take-home pay at three incomes
Montana taxes wages. Here is what a single filer keeps after 2026 federal and state taxes, compared with the middle of all 51.
| Salary | MT income tax | Take-home | vs. median state |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $1,593 | $40,762 | -$17 |
| $100,000 | $4,289 | $74,891 | -$188 |
| $150,000 | $7,114 | $106,677 | -$910 |
Single filer, 2026 tax rules, standard deduction. Take-home is after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Montana income taxes. "vs. median state" is the difference from the median take-home of all 51 at the same salary. For married filing jointly, change the filing status in the calculator above.
Montana has no statewide sales tax. Homeowners pay a median $2,939 a year in property tax, 0.69% of the median home value (property tax by county). Retiring? See how Montana taxes Social Security and pensions. Moving mid-year? Read about taxes the year you move.
Cities in Montana: where a paycheck goes furthest
The Billings metro area is the only one of the 149 U.S. metro areas we cover that is centered in Montana. About $73,300 there buys what $75,000 buys in an average-priced area with no state income tax.
| Metro area | Salary to match $75k | Price level | Median rent | Median home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billings | $73,300 | 93.5 | $1,170 | $383,900 |
Salary to match $75k: the pay that leaves the same after-tax, price-adjusted income as $75,000 in an area at U.S. average prices with no state income tax, single filer, including the principal city's own income tax where it has one. BEA 2024 price levels (U.S. = 100) and Census ACS 2024 rent and home values for each metro area.
Housing and home insurance in Montana
| Measure | Montana | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Median rent (monthly) | $1,177 | $1,487 |
| Median home value | $425,400 | $360,600 |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $2,699 | $2,354 |
| Income needed to buy the median home | $115,669 | $100,903 |
| Median property tax (yearly) | $2,939 | $3,211 |
| Homeowners insurance (yearly median, homes with a mortgage) | $1,617 | $1,450 |
Census ACS 2024 rent, home value and property tax, and ACS 2024 homeowners insurance. Cost to own: principal and interest at the Freddie Mac 30-year average (7.24%) with 20% down, plus the median property tax and the median homeowners insurance paid by owners with a mortgage. Premiums have risen since 2024, especially in high-risk areas, so get quotes. See buying a home in Montana for other down payments.
Natural disaster risk in Montana
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for Montana is 67.1 of 100 (high county-score mean), ranked 9 of 51 from lowest to highest mean. This is not an official FEMA state rating or a national state percentile, and it does not predict whether a particular home is safe. Modeled expected losses from natural hazards average about $732 per resident a year, and no residents live in counties FEMA rates relatively high or very high.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
See disaster risk for every Montana county and how to check a home's risk before you move.
Frequently asked questions
Where do people moving to Montana come from?
In IRS migration data for 2022–2023, 21,390 households moved to Montana from other states. The most came from California (2,817 households), Washington (2,530) and Colorado (1,469).
What are the pros and cons of living in Montana?
Where Montana ranks best among the 50 states and D.C.: lowest electric bills, 5th lowest of 51; lowest modeled county-score means, 9th lowest of 51. It is not in the worst 10 on any of them; its weakest is health premiums, 11th highest of 51.
Is Montana expensive to live in?
Overall prices in Montana are 5.4% below the U.S. average (BEA price level 94.6, 2024), 22nd cheapest of 51. Median rent is $1,177 a month and the median home is worth $425,400.
How long do I have to get a Montana driver license after moving?
60 days after becoming a resident. Start your Montana license application within 60 days of moving (30 days for a commercial license). Bring your valid out-of-state license to avoid testing, plus one document showing lawful presence and one showing your Montana physical address (no PO boxes); apply in person.
How long do I have to register my car in Montana?
60 days. New residents must title and register their vehicles within 60 days of establishing Montana residency. There is no safety or emissions inspection. The title fee is $12.36 for cars, SUVs and light trucks.
Do new residents pay tax on a car brought to Montana?
Montana has no general sales tax, so no sales/use tax is due on a vehicle you bring with you; you pay only title and registration fees.
What makes me a Montana resident?
You're a Montana resident once you make Montana your home; that starts the 60-day window for your license and plates.