Moving to Kansas from Montana
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Montana to Kansas — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Montana to Kansas, you would find that Kansas is 13.2% cheaper than Montana. A $75,000 salary in Montana would need to be roughly $65,100 in Kansas to maintain the same lifestyle. Billings and Wichita are about 800 mi apart.
Is Kansas cheaper than Montana?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 15.3% less
Groceries
pay 5.5% more
Transportation
pay 6.3% less
Housing
pay 23.5% less
Childcare
pay 29.1% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 4.9% less
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Kansas?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $65,100
To maintain the same standard of living in Kansas
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Kansas cost about 16% less than cities in Montana.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Montana and Kansas stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Montana generally does better on safety, though Kansas leads in violent crime rate.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Montana generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Kansas leads in adult smoking rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Kansas generally does better on what about housing?, though Montana leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Montana generally does better on infrastructure, though Kansas leads in internet access.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Kansas performs significantly better than Montana across all employment & economy metrics.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Montana performs better than Kansas across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Kansas vs Montana
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Billings | Wichita |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 47°/20°F (8°/-7°C) | 49°/28°F (10°/-2°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) | 77°/55°F (25°/13°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 85°/52°F (30°/11°C) | 89°/66°F (32°/19°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 51°/25°F (11°/-4°C) | 57°/35°F (14°/2°C) |
View all months
| Month | Billings | Wichita |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41°/16°F (4.8°/-9.1°C) | 42°/22°F (5.8°/-5.6°C) |
| Feb | 45°/19°F (7.3°/-7.3°C) | 48°/26°F (9.0°/-3.3°C) |
| Mar | 54°/26°F (12.3°/-3.5°C) | 58°/35°F (14.4°/1.7°C) |
| Apr | 63°/34°F (17.2°/1.1°C) | 68°/44°F (19.8°/6.9°C) |
| May | 72°/43°F (22.3°/5.9°C) | 77°/55°F (24.8°/12.9°C) |
| Jun | 81°/51°F (27.0°/10.6°C) | 87°/65°F (30.4°/18.3°C) |
| Jul | 89°/57°F (31.9°/13.8°C) | 92°/70°F (33.5°/21.0°C) |
| Aug | 89°/55°F (31.5°/12.6°C) | 91°/69°F (32.9°/20.4°C) |
| Sep | 78°/45°F (25.5°/7.2°C) | 83°/60°F (28.1°/15.3°C) |
| Oct | 65°/35°F (18.1°/1.6°C) | 70°/47°F (20.9°/8.3°C) |
| Nov | 49°/24°F (9.7°/-4.2°C) | 56°/35°F (13.4°/1.4°C) |
| Dec | 39°/15°F (4.0°/-9.2°C) | 44°/24°F (6.4°/-4.4°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Kansas than Montana?
Generally yes: Kansas runs about 13% cheaper than Montana on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to Kansas?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $16,275 in Kansas for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Kansas safe?
Montana generally does better on safety, though Kansas leads in violent crime rate.
How is healthcare in Kansas compared to Montana?
Montana generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Kansas leads in adult smoking rate.
What's the weather like in Kansas compared to Montana?
The average high temperature in Wichita is 68°F, compared to 64°F in Billings. Wichita receives around 32.6 in of rainfall per year, while Billings gets 14.2 in.
