Financial Literacy in Great Falls, MT
With a population of roughly 60,013, Great Falls, Montana is the 3rd-largest of 125 incorporated places in Montana. The population has declined 0.7% since 2020, from 60,453 to 60,013. The median age is 39.3.
28.3% of Great Falls residents 25 and older have completed a bachelor's degree or more. That runs 6.4 points above the Montana average of 21.9%. Put the other way round: of the 42,621 adults 25 and over counted in the 2019–2023 ACS, roughly 30,559 — 71.7% — are building their financial lives without a four-year degree behind them.
The typical household here earns $63,934 a year. That is $4,915 above the Montana median. About 14% of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is valued at $237,400 — about 3.7× the median household income, a ratio that makes the arithmetic of a mortgage worth understanding before signing one.
Great Falls by the numbers
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Population (2024) | 60,013 |
| Change since 2020 | -0.7% |
| Median household income | $63,934 |
| Adults 25+ with a bachelor’s degree | 28.3% |
| Adults 25+ with a high school diploma | 94.2% |
| Median age | 39.3 |
| Poverty rate | 14% |
| Unemployment rate | 3.2% |
| Median home value | $237,400 |
| Land area | 23.132 sq mi |
| Population density | 2,594 / sq mi |
What Montana teaches — and to whom
Montana requires personal finance instruction, but folds it into another course rather than a class of its own — so how much a student actually gets depends heavily on the district and the teacher. Coverage like that varies enormously between districts, and it reaches no one who has already graduated.
LearnLife organises this the way the decisions actually arrive: Legal literacy — leases, contracts, employment rights and what a signature actually commits you to; Money — budgeting, credit, debt and taxes — the mechanics nobody is formally taught; Emotional regulation — the self-management that decides whether the other skills ever get used.
Where to start in Great Falls
Start with the money that moves every month
For most households in Great Falls, the fastest gain is not an investing strategy — it is seeing the recurring outflows clearly, knowing what a credit score actually responds to, and understanding which line items on a payslip are negotiable.
Questions people ask about Great Falls
Do high school students in Great Falls, Montana have to take a personal finance class?
Montana requires personal finance content, but delivers it inside another course rather than a dedicated class, so the depth varies by district and teacher.
How many adults in Great Falls, Montana have a college degree?
28.3% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher, based on the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey. The remaining 71.7% are managing their finances without one.
What is the median household income in Great Falls, Montana?
$63,934, per the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey.
Where can adults in Great Falls, Montana learn personal finance?
Graduation requirements only ever reach people still in school. For adults, LearnLife covers the same ground on demand — money, legal literacy and the self-management that decides whether either gets used.
Start with whichever one is costing you money right now.
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