Need the 411 on Hamilton, MT (Missoula, Lolo: sales, violent crime, house)

[MontuckyGirl75]

What does a potential resident need to know about anything and everything about living in Hamilton, MT? Give me some unique things I might not read in a canned description from the internet. What are your experiences overall? Culture, housing, churches, schools, people, politics, economy, taxes, city governance, community support, etc.

[NorCalMan]

I can't give you the info on all you're looking for but I was in Hamilton in July and my initial feeling was that the town of Hamilton was a bit rundown, at least near the highway, while the more rural areas of the county were nicer. This makes sense since the majority of people in Ravalli County don't live in Hamilton. I much preferred Darby over Hamilton. The people were nice though, the people I interacted with were outgoing and helpful. A number of them appreciated the American flag shirt I was wearing. The Bitterroot Valley is beautiful though, from Missoula in the north down south past Darby, just gorgeous. Montana doesn't have sales tax and their property taxes on a similarly priced home as mine in California is about half. I don't know what their gas tax is but it's nowhere near California's. I got premium for less than $2.50 in Lolo and just about everywhere else in Montana.
Ravalli County votes red, quite a bit red. 70%voted for Trump in 2016. If you're a liberal then Missoula county would probably be better for you. It was one of six counties in the whole state that didn't vote red in 2016.
Hamilton wouldn't be my first place to settle in Montana, but I could do worse.

[firetraq]

I literally just resurrected a post about Hamilton from 9 years ago as i was also asking about Hamilton. Strange coincidence this post popped up an hour or so earlier.

I've done some research and the High school scores 10/10 on most websites, the middle school 5/10 mostly. Ad for the rest of it, i'm not sure myself yet.

I'd say avg house price is $250-275k from what i can see on Zillow. But its hard to see right now with covid i'm sure its slowed a lot of things down.

[NW Crow]

One thing many do not know is that there is a large, high security biological research center. Virus research and such.
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/rocky-mountain-overview

It is a major part of the economy, with a number of high paying positions. It also raises the % with 4 year degrees over what you typically see in rural areas. Some scientists stay, some rotate in & out and likewise with some students / research fellows.

There is also reportedly some level of splinter fundamentalist Mormon community in the hills. In vicinity of Pinesdale or Woodside I recall.

Hamilton itself has about 4,600 people but if you add in all the small towns and rural areas nearby it is probably 20,000, maybe more. County has 41,000. Most of the rest are probably closer to Missoula with only a few thousand further to the south.

Older than average. Average age is 44. National average is 37. Among married couples, much fewer kids in the household. Unmarried with kids more typical level. Babies and high school populations are near national average but elementary / secondary aged kids are about half the national average.

42 restaurants. Including French, Thai, Filipino, Sushi, Organic, Chinese, Cornish (UK) and Greek.

Crime has picked up, with violent crime moderately above average and property crime is 50% above average.

Snowfall is fairly modest in town (32 inches) but can increase rapidly if you go up in the hills.

[NW Crow]

Stevensville is a small town (may be a somewhat bigger school district with rural areas) but has normal levels of elementary and secondary aged kids. Very high level of babies.