Moving from Great Falls to Helena
Great Falls to Helena: $230 more leftover
$2,434/mo leftover in Helena vs $2,204 in Great Falls after tax and rent ($230 more). +$2,760 a year — not a moving-company quote.
Great Falls leftover
$2,204
a month after tax and rent
Helena leftover
$2,434
+$230 vs Great Falls
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
Leftover is not a cost-of-living index. Leftover vs a COL index
Who already made this move
In 2022-2023, 85 households moved Great Falls → Helena (about 139 people, average AGI $57,071). 107 households went the other way.
Source: IRS SOI county-to-county migration. Not a moving company; not a recommendation.
| Per month | Great Falls | Helena |
|---|---|---|
| Take-home | $5,223 | $5,609 |
| Rent | $1,042 | $1,263 |
| All other costs | $1,977 | $1,912 |
| Left over | $2,204 | $2,434 |
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Great Falls and Helena moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Full line-by-line comparison →
What the move itself costs
About 67 road miles, 1 bedroom. Typical ranges, not quotes.
- Full-service mover
- $1,600–$3,000
- Container or pod
- $1,050–$2,000
- Rent a truck
- $350–$700
Other moves from Great Falls
Dig into Helena
Paycheck
Take-home pay after tax and rent, and what's left at the end of the month.
Who moved
Which metros people actually left and arrived from, according to IRS tax returns.
Rent vs buy
Asking rent, the median home, property tax, and months to a down payment.
Monthly costs
Groceries, getting around, utilities, healthcare and childcare at your household size.
Daily life
Homicide and firearm death rates, heat, cars and commute.
Kids
Public-school enrollment, pupil–teacher ratio, bedrooms and childcare.
Getting there
Typical cost to get here, then leftover after tax and rent — not a moving-company directory.
Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Helena than Great Falls?
A one-bedroom is about $1,042 in Great Falls versus $1,263 in Helena. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $230 a month higher in Helena. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Helena have state income tax?
Helena is in Montana, which taxes wage income.
Did people actually move from Great Falls to Helena?
When IRS county-to-county data covers this pair, the page lists how many households made the Great Falls → Helena move and their average AGI. Leftover after tax and rent is shown for the same household on both sides.