What is the Munimetric score for Montana?

Munimetric assigns a state-level average MISI score based on the individual scores of all covered community water systems in Montana. The state average, band distribution, and market-level rankings are shown on this page. Higher MISI values indicate greater structural stress.

Which water systems in Montana face the most infrastructure stress?

The state page ranks the highest-stress systems in Montana by MISI score. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk, not a single compliance event. The headline remains a blended structural stress composite rather than a pure physical-condition index. Workflow actions remain reserved for account access.

How does Montana compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?

Montana is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. Munimetric tracks nationwide coverage across 9,000+ scored service markets.

Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Montana water systems?

Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family score. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.

Does Munimetric include PFAS monitoring context for Montana water systems?

Munimetric summarizes stored PFAS monitoring context where public contaminant-monitoring records are available. Missing PFAS summaries remain missing records, not non-detections, and this public-record layer does not change the MISI score by itself.

What compliance signals are active in Montana?

Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, population decline, income erosion, data staleness, and parent-government fiscal stress across Montana water systems.

Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Montana?

Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions that provide context around system reliability over time.

How many covered systems in Montana have recent recorded drinking-water violations?

Stored public records show 14 covered systems with recent drinking-water violations, with 61 recorded violations across 38 covered systems in the recent 3 years window.

How does Munimetric summarize PFAS public-record context in Montana?

Stored contaminant-monitoring summaries are present for 32 covered systems; 20 systems have PFAS detection context in this state summary.

How does Munimetric summarize lead & copper context in Montana?

Stored lead & copper summaries are present for 32 covered systems; 20 systems have violation or action-level context in this state summary.

What source-water types are represented across covered Montana systems?

Stored identity records group covered Montana systems by source-water type: Surface water: 19, Groundwater: 19.

Where can I find official drinking-water records for Montana?

The Official records drawer lists Public drinking-water profile, Contaminant monitoring records links where currently available for Montana.

Is this a real-time statewide tap-water condition rating?

No. This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. Munimetric summarizes stored public-record context for research and navigation, and this layer does not change MISI.

States / Montana

Montana

Name: Montana Drinking Water Infrastructure Stress Data
Creator: Munimetric
License: https://munimetric.com/terms

Statewide Munimetric profile for Montana, covering drinking-water market scores, signal activity, infrastructure stress context, and population insights across 38 scored service markets serving approximately 601,459 people. This state profile highlights what is happening and why it matters using water-system, fiscal, capital, and signal context.

Montana has an average MISI infrastructure stress score of 18.8/100 in the Stable band as of 2026-08-18. Public records summarize recent drinking-water violations, PFAS monitoring records, lead and copper context, and source-water mix across 38 covered systems. Updated May 2026.

National context

States sized by scored-market count. Color reflects average stress band.

38Markets scored

18.8Headline composite

~601KPop. served

152Active signals

Band distribution (MISI)

State headline composite

Component of current headline composite

Infrastructure Stress17.0 / 100

Physical, compliance, and capital-execution pressure reflected in the blended headline composite.

Socioeconomic Stress1.7 / 100

Affordability, demand-base, and parent-government fiscal pressure reflected in the blended headline composite.

Observability Stress0.1 / 100

Staleness, disclosure freshness, and reporting-visibility effects reflected in the blended headline composite.

18.8 headline compositeMontana state composite38 markets~601K people served

Hardin City of38.0watch Glendive City of36.4watch Miles City City of32.5watch Polson City of31.7watch Wolf Point City of30.0watch Laurel Municipal Water System28.3watch Havre City of27.7watch West Yellowstone Town of26.2watch Co Water Dist of Billings Heights25.9watch Libby City of25.4watch Butte Silverbow Water Dept25.4watch Malmstrom Air Force Base25.3watch River Rock County Water and Sewer Dist25.3watch Billings City of23.9watch Mountain Water Company21.4watch Hamilton City of20.0watch Shelby City of19.9stable Big Sky County Water and Sewer Dist 36318.9stable Great Falls City of18.4stable Kalispell Public Works17.0stable Flathead County Water and Sewer17.0stable Sidney City of16.8stable Lockwood Water and Sewer District16.4stable Columbia Falls City of16.3stable Dillon City of15.9stable Town of Browning15.3stable Helena Water System15.1stable Bozeman City of14.8stable Anaconda Water Department12.9stable Livingston City of11.2stable Montana State University Billings9.6stable Rocky Mountain College9.6stable Lewistown City of7.6stable University of Montana5.4stable Belgrade City of4.0stable Whitefish City of4.0stable Montana State University Bozeman4.0stable Quartz Flat Rest Stop West2.0stable Hardin City of38.0watch Glendive City of36.4watch Miles City City of32.5watch Polson City of31.7watch Wolf Point City of30.0watch Laurel Municipal Water System28.3watch Havre City of27.7watch West Yellowstone Town of26.2watch Co Water Dist of Billings Heights25.9watch Libby City of25.4watch Butte Silverbow Water Dept25.4watch Malmstrom Air Force Base25.3watch River Rock County Water and Sewer Dist25.3watch Billings City of23.9watch Mountain Water Company21.4watch Hamilton City of20.0watch Shelby City of19.9stable Big Sky County Water and Sewer Dist 36318.9stable Great Falls City of18.4stable Kalispell Public Works17.0stable Flathead County Water and Sewer17.0stable Sidney City of16.8stable Lockwood Water and Sewer District16.4stable Columbia Falls City of16.3stable Dillon City of15.9stable Town of Browning15.3stable Helena Water System15.1stable Bozeman City of14.8stable Anaconda Water Department12.9stable Livingston City of11.2stable Montana State University Billings9.6stable Rocky Mountain College9.6stable Lewistown City of7.6stable University of Montana5.4stable Belgrade City of4.0stable Whitefish City of4.0stable Montana State University Bozeman4.0stable Quartz Flat Rest Stop West2.0stable

State interpretation guide

How to read Montana headline composite

Plain-language summary

Montana currently shows an average MISI headline composite of 18.8 versus a national average of 24.4. In v0.1.2, the headline composite remains a blended structural stress measure rather than a pure physical-condition index. A frozen national reference and a 50 percent single-factor cap reduce the dominance of near-universal and very rare factors, while the component bars continue to separate infrastructure, socioeconomic, and observability readings.

Why this page stands out

38 scored systems are included in this state view, with explicit confidence and source-backed context.
State posture is benchmarked against national averages, not evaluated in isolation.
Top system links below connect state-level findings directly to profile-level diagnostics.

What to do next

Review the executive context to understand the state-level pressure pattern.
Open top system profiles to inspect what is actually driving stress at market level.
Use saved monitoring after research access is enabled to follow high-stress systems over time.

Priority Montana paths

Public record layer

Statewide Water Quality Context

Stored public-record context for recent drinking-water violations, contaminant monitoring, and source-water mix across covered systems. This is not a tap-water safety determination and does not change the MISI score.

Systems with recent violations

14 of 38Systems with recent public violation rows.

Source-water mix38 systems

Surface water19
Groundwater19
Purchased water0
Mixed source0
Not stored0

Latest identity snapshot: Jun 30, 2026

Coverage

Violation, enforcement, and compliance-burden counts use the recent 3 years window for dated stored records.
Drinking-water identity snapshots are stored for 33 of 38 included scored systems.
PFAS monitoring summary records are stored for 32 of 38 included systems; missing records are not treated as non-detections.
Lead and copper summary records are stored for 32 of 38 included systems; missing records are not treated as absence of lead/copper context.

Water quality questionsDefinitions and public-record context

How many covered systems in Montana have recent recorded drinking-water violations?: Stored public records show 14 covered systems with recent drinking-water violations, with 61 recorded violations across 38 covered systems in the recent 3 years window.
How does Munimetric summarize PFAS public-record context in Montana?: Stored contaminant-monitoring summaries are present for 32 covered systems; 20 systems have PFAS detection context in this state summary.
How does Munimetric summarize lead & copper context in Montana?: Stored lead & copper summaries are present for 32 covered systems; 20 systems have violation or action-level context in this state summary.
What source-water types are represented across covered Montana systems?: Stored identity records group covered Montana systems by source-water type: Surface water: 19, Groundwater: 19.
Where can I find official drinking-water records for Montana?: The Official records drawer lists Public drinking-water profile, Contaminant monitoring records links where currently available for Montana.
Is this a real-time statewide tap-water condition rating?: No. This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. Munimetric summarizes stored public-record context for research and navigation, and this layer does not change MISI.

Official records

Public drinking-water profileEPA ECHO: Federal drinking-water dashboard and public-record search entry point.
Contaminant monitoring recordsEPA UCMR: Federal contaminant-monitoring program reference and public data entry point.

Methodology/source notes

Methodology/source notesDisplayed from stored public drinking-water records and official program references. This layer does not change MISI.
Enforcement historyEPA ECHO / SDWIS: Violation and enforcement counts are aggregated from stored public compliance records across covered systems.
Contaminant monitoring recordsEPA UCMR: PFAS context uses stored contaminant-monitoring summaries where available; missing records are not treated as non-detections.
State drinking-water programOfficial link not currently stored for this state program mapping.

Top recent compliance-burden systemsRecent 3 years

System	Population	Source water	Recent violations	Recent enforcement	Public-record flags
Havre City OfMT0000524	9,921	Surface water	10	50	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Malmstrom Air Force BaseMT0000515	8,850	Surface water	8	16	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
River Rock County Water And Sewer DistMT0004082	4,200	Groundwater	6	30	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, lead/copper context
Miles City City OfMT0000291	9,565	Surface water	6	20	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context
Billings Heights Co Water Dist OfMT0000155	12,000	Surface water	6	12	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records
Butte Silverbow Water DeptMT0000170	33,000	Surface water	6	9	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, lead/copper context
Polson City OfMT0000308	5,300	Groundwater	4	13	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, lead/copper context
Hardin City OfMT0000235	3,500	Surface water	4	8	recent violations recorded, recent enforcement history, recent monitoring/reporting failures, PFAS detections in stored records, lead/copper context

This is not a real-time tap-water condition determination. For current advisories or health guidance, consult the utility or state drinking-water program.

Executive context

What This Page Shows

38 of the community drinking-water systems in Montana are currently scored. Analytics below are calculated from this covered subset only. Covered systems serve approximately 601K people.

What the Data Suggests

Montana has 38 scored service markets in the Munimetric coverage set, covering roughly 601,459 residents in total. At the latest reading, the state-level average lands at 18.8 out of 100, indicating limited signs of structural stress in aggregate. No markets currently sit in elevated-stress bands.

Across state markets, Operational Stress (9.2 points average) and Capex Pressure (7.8) are the leading contributors to headline stress. The relatively close spacing suggests pressure is spread across more than one dimension.

152 active signals are recorded across state markets. The most prevalent is Current Drought Severity, affecting 33 markets.

State-level average stress has been relatively steady between recent observation periods, suggesting the current picture reflects persistent conditions rather than a sudden shift.

This summary is based on structured, source-backed public data and is intended for research and monitoring only. It is not investment advice, a credit opinion, or municipal advisory guidance.

Recent Movement

Latest average MISI is 18.8 as of Aug 18, 2026. Movement since Aug 17, 2026 is flat.

Compact summary from 96 stored state observations.

State Family Contribution Summary

Operational Stress9.2 / 20.0

Capex Pressure7.8 / 20.0

Governance Risk0.8 / 20.0

Revenue Fragility0.8 / 20.0

Rate Constraint0.2 / 20.0

Signals

Signal Frequency

Signal	Severity	Markets affected	% of scored
Current Drought Severity	medium	33	87%
Climate Hazard Exposure	medium	31	82%
PFAS Contamination Risk	high	20	53%
Lead & Copper Rule Risk	high	20	53%
Compliance Escalation	high	20	53%
Parent-Government Fiscal Stress	medium	9	24%
High-AGI Out-Migration	high	7	18%
Monitoring / Reporting Failures	medium	4	11%
Population Served Decline	medium	3	8%
Infrastructure Capital Gap	medium	2	5%
Income Erosion	low	2	5%
Utility Data Staleness	high	1	3%

Markets

Top Markets

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Hardin City of	38.0	Watch	4K	8
2	Glendive City of	36.4	Watch	5K	9
3	Miles City City of	32.5	Watch	10K	6
4	Polson City of	31.7	Watch	5K	6
5	Wolf Point City of	30.0	Watch	0	8
6	Laurel Municipal Water System	28.3	Watch	6K	5
7	Havre City of	27.7	Watch	10K	6
8	West Yellowstone Town of	26.2	Watch	10K	6
9	Co Water Dist of Billings Heights	25.9	Watch	12K	5
10	Libby City of	25.4	Watch	5K	4
11	Butte Silverbow Water Dept	25.4	Watch	33K	4
12	Malmstrom Air Force Base	25.3	Watch	9K	4
13	River Rock County Water and Sewer Dist	25.3	Watch	4K	4
14	Billings City of	23.9	Watch	114K	4
15	Mountain Water Company	21.4	Watch	68K	3
16	Hamilton City of	20.0	Watch	6K	5
17	Shelby City of	19.9	Stable	4K	3
18	Big Sky County Water and Sewer Dist 363	18.9	Stable	4K	4
19	Great Falls City of	18.4	Stable	60K	3
20	Kalispell Public Works	17.0	Stable	25K	4

Comparison

State Comparison

National average: 24.4

Rank	State	Avg Score	Band	Markets	Delta vs State
43	New Hampshire	19.9	Watch	42	+1.0
44	Alabama	19.2	Stable	289	+0.4
45	Montana	18.8	Stable	38	+0.0
46	Michigan	18.7	Stable	304	-0.1
47	Virginia	18.0	Stable	162	-0.9

Analytical posture

State Stress Analytics

Score Distribution

Distribution of scored market scores with the state average overlay.

38 markets plotted.

Stress vs Population

Each point is a scored market; tooltip reveals market-level context.

37 markets plotted.

Population View

People served by community water systems in Montana, colored by stress band.

~601K people served by 38 systems in Montana

Stable

Watch

Fragile

High Stress

Critical

38 scored systems · colored by stress band

Peer Constellation

Select a market to see its nearest peers by score similarity.

Center market:

24 nearest peers by score distance.

Score Trend

Latest

18.8

Trend

+18.8

Observations

Extended layers

Advanced State Context

Priority views, detailed registers, and methodology supporting the analytical core above.

Markets & signals

Priority Views

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Hardin City of	38.0	Watch	4K	8
2	Glendive City of	36.4	Watch	5K	9
3	Miles City City of	32.5	Watch	10K	6
4	Polson City of	31.7	Watch	5K	6
5	Wolf Point City of	30.0	Watch	0	8
6	Laurel Municipal Water System	28.3	Watch	6K	5
7	Havre City of	27.7	Watch	10K	6
8	West Yellowstone Town of	26.2	Watch	10K	6
9	Co Water Dist of Billings Heights	25.9	Watch	12K	5
10	Libby City of	25.4	Watch	5K	4
11	Butte Silverbow Water Dept	25.4	Watch	33K	4
12	Malmstrom Air Force Base	25.3	Watch	9K	4
13	River Rock County Water and Sewer Dist	25.3	Watch	4K	4
14	Billings City of	23.9	Watch	114K	4
15	Mountain Water Company	21.4	Watch	68K	3
16	Hamilton City of	20.0	Watch	6K	5
17	Shelby City of	19.9	Stable	4K	3
18	Big Sky County Water and Sewer Dist 363	18.9	Stable	4K	4
19	Great Falls City of	18.4	Stable	60K	3
20	Kalispell Public Works	17.0	Stable	25K	4

Detailed records

Registers

#	Market	Score	Band	Population	Signals
1	Hardin City of	38.0	Watch	4K	8
2	Glendive City of	36.4	Watch	5K	9
3	Miles City City of	32.5	Watch	10K	6
4	Polson City of	31.7	Watch	5K	6
5	Wolf Point City of	30.0	Watch	0	8
6	Laurel Municipal Water System	28.3	Watch	6K	5
7	Havre City of	27.7	Watch	10K	6
8	West Yellowstone Town of	26.2	Watch	10K	6
9	Co Water Dist of Billings Heights	25.9	Watch	12K	5
10	Libby City of	25.4	Watch	5K	4
11	Butte Silverbow Water Dept	25.4	Watch	33K	4
12	Malmstrom Air Force Base	25.3	Watch	9K	4
13	River Rock County Water and Sewer Dist	25.3	Watch	4K	4
14	Billings City of	23.9	Watch	114K	4
15	Mountain Water Company	21.4	Watch	68K	3
16	Hamilton City of	20.0	Watch	6K	5
17	Shelby City of	19.9	Stable	4K	3
18	Big Sky County Water and Sewer Dist 363	18.9	Stable	4K	4
19	Great Falls City of	18.4	Stable	60K	3
20	Kalispell Public Works	17.0	Stable	25K	4

Munimetric tracks infrastructure stress across 38 community drinking-water systems in Montana, covering compliance conditions, capital needs, revenue and rate pressure, and governance risk. Use this page to research which systems face the highest structural stress and how Montana compares nationally.

Which water systems in Montana face the most infrastructure stress?: The highest-stress systems in Montana are ranked by MISI score above. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk—not a single compliance event. In v0.1.2, the headline composite remains a blended structural stress measure rather than a pure physical-condition index. A frozen national reference and a 50 percent single-factor cap reduce the dominance of near-universal and very rare factors, while the component bars continue to separate infrastructure, socioeconomic, and observability readings.
How does Montana compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?: Montana is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. The state comparison table above shows where Montana ranks nationally and how its average score compares.
Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Montana water systems?: Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.
What compliance signals are active in Montana?: Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, data staleness, and financial stress indicators across Montana systems. The signal frequency table above summarizes which signals are most prevalent statewide.
Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Montana?: Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions—compliance posture, infrastructure stress, and governance risk—that provide broader context around system reliability.

Keep monitoring this state

Research access covers saved monitoring, alerts, recurring briefs, and team review.

Get the Water Stress Brief Request research access

Water Infrastructure in Montana

Munimetric tracks infrastructure stress across 38 community drinking-water systems in Montana. Each system receives a Munimetric Infrastructure Stress Index (MISI) score from 0 to 100, calculated across five risk families: Operational Stress, Capex Pressure, Revenue Fragility, Rate Constraint, and Governance Risk. Higher scores indicate more structural stress. Scores are source-backed and deterministic, drawing from EPA SDWA compliance records, American Community Survey demographic and economic data, FEMA National Risk Index hazard profiles, and state financial disclosures.

State-level monitoring shows which systems face the highest structural stress, how Montana compares against other states nationally, and which monitoring signals are most active across the state. Each individual system profile includes compliance history, score family drivers, peer rankings within population-based cohorts where safeguards pass, and public source context. Full provenance cards and source workbench views remain workflow-gated. Munimetric covers community water systems across all 50 states and territories. This is structural risk research—not a water quality rating, advisory feed, or credit rating. Updated May 2026.

The statewide public-record layer adds drinking-water violation categories, PFAS monitoring summaries where stored, lead and copper context, source-water mix, and official record links across covered systems. These records help explain water-system context alongside infrastructure stress without turning Munimetric into a tap-water safety determination.

What is the Munimetric score for Montana?: Munimetric assigns a state-level average MISI score based on the individual scores of all covered community water systems in Montana. The state average, band distribution, and market-level rankings are shown on this page. Higher MISI values indicate greater structural stress.
Which water systems in Montana face the most infrastructure stress?: The state page ranks the highest-stress systems in Montana by MISI score. Stress reflects operational burden, capital gaps, revenue fragility, rate affordability constraints, and governance risk, not a single compliance event. The headline remains a blended structural stress composite rather than a pure physical-condition index. Workflow actions remain reserved for account access.
How does Montana compare to other states for drinking water infrastructure risk?: Montana is compared against all 50 states and territories using average MISI score, market count, and band distribution. Munimetric tracks nationwide coverage across 9,000+ scored service markets.
Are there lead pipe or corrosion-related concerns in Montana water systems?: Where lead and copper rule compliance data is available from EPA SDWA records, Munimetric factors it into the Operational Stress family score. Specific lead service line inventories vary by system. Individual system profiles contain the most detailed compliance context available.
Does Munimetric include PFAS monitoring context for Montana water systems?: Munimetric summarizes stored PFAS monitoring context where public contaminant-monitoring records are available. Missing PFAS summaries remain missing records, not non-detections, and this public-record layer does not change the MISI score by itself.
What compliance signals are active in Montana?: Munimetric tracks signals such as compliance escalation, monitoring and reporting failures, population decline, income erosion, data staleness, and parent-government fiscal stress across Montana water systems.
Does Munimetric track boil water advisories in Montana?: Munimetric does not track real-time boil water advisories. For current advisories, contact your local water utility or state drinking water program. Munimetric monitors structural conditions that provide context around system reliability over time.