Living in Livingston, MT

Park County

Livingston is a real, genuinely distinct Montana town on the Yellowstone River, historically a Northern Pacific Railroad division point and today the original/northern gateway to Yellowstone National Park via Paradise Valley and Gardiner's North Entrance (the only Yellowstone entrance open to private vehicles year-round), roughly 55 miles to the south. Sitting approximately 26 miles east of Bozeman along I-90, Livingston genuinely, honestly feels real spillover pressure from the substantial Bozeman/Gallatin Valley in-migration boom this project's own montana.js documents in detail -- cited home-price figures span a real, disclosed $439,000 to $580,000 depending on the specific measure, well above both the national median and Montana's own statewide average. This record credits Livingston's own distinct identity directly rather than treating it as simply a cheaper Bozeman suburb: a genuine, growing arts community (the Shane Lalani Center for the Arts, the Livingston Depot Center) and outdoor-recreation/fly-fishing tourism tied to the Yellowstone River. Livingston's economy runs on healthcare (Livingston HealthCare, Park County's largest employer), construction, and manufacturing, with a median household income around $65,861 and a cost of living cited at roughly 1.1x the national average. Livingston inherits Montana's statewide hazard profile -- real, current wildfire risk and real, non-trivial earthquake risk from the seismically active southwestern Intermountain Seismic Belt -- alongside genuinely cold, four-season winters averaging 45-50 inches of snowfall.

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Housing

Median sale price$439,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate0.74%

Not independently sourced at the Park County level this session. Montana's top state income tax rate is 5.65%. See the Montana hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Livingston-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A real, genuine gateway position to Yellowstone National Park via Paradise Valley, with the only entrance open to private vehicles year-round about 55 miles south. A real, distinct, growing arts and outdoor-recreation identity separate from Bozeman's tech-driven boom, even while genuinely close enough (26 miles) to access Bozeman's larger job market and amenities. Montana's real, favorable no-sales-tax and below-national-average property-tax structure applies statewide.

Cons

A real, disclosed housing-cost premium: cited figures ($439,000-$580,000) run well above both the national median and Montana's own statewide average home value, a real consequence of Bozeman-corridor proximity. Cited crime figures ran higher than several other Tier A markets in this dataset. This record discloses a real, honest data gap in dated, Livingston-specific healthcare-access statistics distinct from the town's larger new hospital facility alone.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits outdoor-recreation and fly-fishing enthusiasts, remote workers wanting genuine mountain-town character without Bozeman's full price tag (though still at a real premium over the state average), and those drawn to Livingston's distinct arts-community identity and Yellowstone-gateway position.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers seeking Montana's very lowest housing costs -- Livingston's own cited figures run notably above the statewide average, a real, disclosed Bozeman-proximity and tourism-demand premium. Those prioritizing the lowest possible crime exposure or confidently sourced, dated local healthcare-access statistics should also weigh this record's disclosed gaps and figures directly.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-28. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.