Montana vs North Dakota

Head-to-head homesteading comparison across taxes, land, climate, laws, safety & more

Montana

Rank #32

Overall Score

63.6

Category Wins

5/10

North Dakota

Rank #12

Overall Winner

Overall Score

69.5

Category Wins

5/10

Quick Comparison

Winner highlighted per category

0.74%

Property Tax

0.98%

Cost of Living

$1,230

Farm Land $/Acre

$1,750

130 days

Growing Season

140 days

20"

Annual Rainfall

22"

5/10

Soil Quality

9/10

8/10

Safety (Rural)

9/10

10/10

Gun Friendly

9/10

4.93 hrs

Solar (PSH)

4 hrs

70%

Broadband

83%

North Dakota Edges Out Montana Overall

With an overall homesteading score of 69.5 vs 63.6, North Dakota comes out ahead in our balanced analysis — winning 5 out of 10 key categories. But the best state for you depends on what matters most.

Key differences: Montana offers cheaper farmland at $1,230/acre vs $1,750/acre. North Dakota has a longer growing season (140 vs 130 days). Montana has lower property taxes (0.74% vs 0.98%).

Scroll down to the full comparison table for a deep dive into every metric, or use our ranking tool to weight these factors by what matters most to you.

Full Data Comparison

Side-by-side comparison of selected states across homesteading metrics
Data Point	Montana MT	North Dakota ND
Taxes & Cost
	Yes	Yes
	5.9%	2.5%
	0%	7.87%
	0.74%	0.98%
	95	96
Land & Building
	$1,230	$1,750
	No Statewide Code	Yes (Statewide)
	Yes (Statewide)	Permitted with local approval; generally allowed
Climate & Growing
	3a-6b	3a-4a
	130	140
	20"	22"
	5	9
	6	6
	1	5
Water & Energy
	Allowed with Limits	Permitted
	4.93	4
	Yes	Yes
Laws & Freedom
	Low	Minimal
	10	9
	Strong	Very strong
	Yes (Farm Sales Only)	Permitted for raw milk operations with licensing
	Yes	Yes
Safety & Healthcare
	420	284
	35%	38%
Demographics & Community
	7.6	11
	45%	40%
	70%	83%
Business
	#5	#9
	$35/yr	$125/yr
	2.8%	2.1%

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