Bozeman Tops the Lists

Congrats, Bozeman parents, your kids are gonna be like you after all. Backpacker magazine just ranked Bozeman number 18 on its list of the best 25 towns in which to raise an outdoor kid. Can you blame them? We’ve got mountain trailheads just minutes from town, a short two-hour drive to affordable housing, low unemployment rates, and the potential to earn a decent living, all surrounded by first-rate hunting, fishing, and wilderness. Thanks for the props, Backpacker. You were about 17 spots off our actual ranking, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

Bozeman also ranked in the top quarter of Outdoor Life’s “America's 200 best hunting and fishing towns for 2009" list. Based on categories such as affordable housing, unemployment rates, potential to earn a decent living, and hunting and fishing, Bozeman came in at number 49. This rank actually makes us happy—it acknowledges our greatness without making us an "out-of-towner" magnet like the #1 spot (sayonara, Lewiston, Idaho).