Housing in Bozeman
Over 55% of Bozeman residents are renters.
45% of Bozeman renting households earn less than 60% AMI: $45,800 for one person, $65,400 for a household of 4.
In 2023, only 4% of home sales in Bozeman were affordable to people making under 120% AMI.
Our current vacancy rate is 12.5% within Bozeman city limits… There are still over 3,000 units in the planning pipeline. We would anticipate that a lot of those projects would not be moving forward due to the current vacancy rates.
Although various studies indicate that the nation has a shortage of anywhere from 2 million to 4 million units, Census data show little evidence of a shortage. Even though the stock of housing is adequate in most markets, the mismatch between the distribution of incomes and the distribution of housing prices results in housing affordability problems, especially for extremely low-income renters.
—Prof. Kirk McClure and Alex Schwartz, Housing Policy Debate
Nearly 5300 renters in Bozeman are cost-burdened (housing costs exceed 30% of monthly income).
Bozeman’s housing expenses are 62% higher than the national average and the utility prices are 14% lower than the national average.
The median income for a renter household in Bozeman is $49,543 (latest available data), far less than the over $100,000 a household would need to earn to afford rent in Bozeman comfortably.
—Isabel Hicks, Montana Free Press; Bozeman 2023 Economic and Market Update
Housing is considered affordable by HUD if the monthly rent or mortgage payment is equal to or less than 30% of gross household income.
Area Median Income, or AMI, is used to set income and rent limits for affordable units. AMI is published annually for counties by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and varies by household size.
In 2024, AMI for Gallatin County was $109,000 for a family of 4 (or $76,300 for an individual).
This ballot initiative would require all new residential developments wishing to pay CILWR to have at least a third of the units affordable at 60% AMI or less for rentals or 120% AMI or less for ownership.
With our current AMI, this would mean:
1-bedroom rentals at $1309/month
3-bedroom rentals at $1635/month
Home sales at less than $445,100 or less
While the affordability benchmarks proposed in this ballot initiative are still expensive for many, requiring at least a third of new units to be at this level is significantly more affordable than what is currently on the market.
