Miles City (Billings, Missoula, Bozeman: renting, low crime, house)

[southernbelle]

My husband and I are moving within the next 4 months. We are looking at the Miles City area. Does any one know how the crime rate is, there? We are from a small city in Georgia. We want to move to an area that is a little less expensive to live in, but with a low crime rate. We want our son to grow up in an area where he can feel safe and we don't have to worry about him getting caught up in a bunch of mess. He is only 6 and I'm an over protective mom.

[igallery]

Greetings. We currently live in Miles City and are originally from South of Seattle. When we moved to Montana we first moved to a very "rural" and small town on the hiline. We moved to Miles City in 1999 and we love it. We have 2 children ourselves. A 4 year old and a 10 year old. It is a great place to raise kids. The schools are good and there is a private school that is exceptional. There isn't much crime. Some minor property crime now and then but things are pretty quiet most of the time. Sports are a big thing here in Miles City. They take sports very serious.

On another note, do you know when you might be coming this way? I only ask as we are getting ready to relocate to Wyoming for my husbands job and have a great house that we were just getting ready to put on the market. If you are interested, let me know and I will give you more information.

I hope this information is helpful.

[southernbelle]

We will be coming up on Labor Day weekend. We are right now, thinking about renting for about a year. We want to make sure that we are going to like being there, before we buy a house. Thanks for the information. I can not wait to visit.

[mthuntnow]

If you are looking for a safe place for your kid(s) to grow up then Montana is the best you can find. There are some problems with drug use, particularily meth, but it's just bored red-necks. There is little to no real gang activity in Montana, maybe a little in Billings but that's about it. Miles City is a very small place, the crime amounts to drunk teenagers and domestic disputes, NOTHING more. Pretty much any place in Montana is exceedingly safe for children. There are areas that I would consider "bad" due to indian reservations, I'm not trying to be racist but white people can get into trouble in a few main indian towns and the theft rates are higher. However, drinking and fighting is still the most common problem even in the worst of towns. Unless you have something up your sleeve, employment will be your biggest problem. Around the larger towns (Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, a few others) a man is very luck to find an honest labor job paying over $15/hour, in Miles City your lucky to get $11/hour. If your employed in the oil or coal industry, there may be some opportunities in Miles City.

Good luck, the money is always the problem with comming to MT so get your ducks in a row!