Montana · Census place 16525
Colstrip, MT population, income and ZIP codes
Quick answer
The population of the city of Colstrip, Montana (Colstrip, MT — Census place “Colstrip city”) is 2,156 residents, ranking #49 of 497 places in Montana. Median household income is $86,000, the median home is worth $193,700 and median gross rent runs $632 a month. Looking for the Colstrip Montana ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Colstrip, MT: 59323.
- Population
- 2,156Colstrip city residents
- Median household income
- $86,000Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $193,700Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $632Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 43.5 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 80.8%Owner-occupied households
Colstrip ZIP codes (Montana)
Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Colstrip.
The Colstrip MT ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.
What the numbers mean in Colstrip city
Housing cost measured against local earnings.
A household earning the Colstrip city median would spend about 8.8% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 2.3× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 9.1% of residents and 80.8% of households own their home.
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year
Colstrip city, MT in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
Colstrip city is a small town in Montana, with 2,156 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #49 of 497 ranked by population — larger than 90% of them. The median age here is 43.5 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.
Households in Colstrip city earn a median of $86,000 a year, 9.5% above the national figure of $78,538 and 37% above the $62,992 median for the 94 Montana cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 9.1% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in Colstrip city is valued at $193,700, 36.2% below the national figure and 23% below the $250,900 peer median, while median gross rent runs $632 a month, 55% below the national figure, or roughly $7,584 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 8.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 80.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, an owner-dominated market where rental listings are scarce and rent medians rest on a thin sample. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.
No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
Compare with nearby places
Places of similar size in Montana.
- Manhattan town 2,149
- Stevensville town 2,172
- Crow Agency CDP 2,110
- Townsend city 2,232
- East Missoula CDP 2,072
- King Arthur Park CDP 2,343
- Three Forks city 2,034
- Big Sky CDP 2,388
Keep going
More Montana coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this area.
- What is the population of Colstrip city?
- Colstrip city has 2,156 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #49 of 497 in Montana.
- What is the median household income in Colstrip city?
- Median household income in Colstrip city is $86,000 a year, 9.5% above the national figure of $78,538.
- How much does it cost to rent or buy in Colstrip city?
- Median gross rent is $632 a month and the median home value is $193,700, so rent absorbs about 8.8% of median household income.
- Is Colstrip city affordable compared with the rest of the US?
- Homes cost about 2.3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Colstrip city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 8.8% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
- How current is this Colstrip city data?
- All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.