Invest In Apartment Buildings In Billings, MT

What Keeps Billings Renters Coming

Billings is Montana's largest city and the main service center for a huge stretch of the northern plains. The U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024 counts 17,935 renter households, or 35.2% of households, above the 30.8% share for Montana as a whole. Median gross rent is $1,138 a month, up 26.6% from $899 in the 2015–2019 survey. Median household income rose 23.6% to $73,712 over the same period, so rents ran slightly ahead of pay. Population grew 9.0%, and Big Sky Economic Development noted in early 2024 that Yellowstone County led Montana in residents moving in from elsewhere in the state.

Healthcare is the biggest employer group. Billings Clinic, which Big Sky Economic Development describes as Montana's largest independent health system and employer, became the first Level I trauma center in Montana and Wyoming in 2023. Intermountain Health runs St. Vincent Regional Hospital and is building a replacement hospital that the agency called the largest healthcare construction project in state history. Construction started in June 2025 at 27th Street and 12th Avenue North, just east of the current hospital, and Intermountain plans a 14-story, roughly 737,000-square-foot building with 243 beds, set to open in 2029. That puts several more years of construction crews and hospital hiring on the north side of downtown. Education adds Montana State University Billings, Rocky Mountain College and Rocky Vista University's osteopathic medical school, which opened on the West End in 2023. Energy still matters too: three of Montana's four oil refineries are in Yellowstone County, and the agency's late 2025 report listed 300 jobs at Phillips 66 and 250 at Par Pacific's Billings refinery. First Interstate Bank and Kampgrounds of America keep their headquarters here.

That mix gives owners a renter pool of nurses, hospital staff, medical students, refinery workers, and retail employees. Big Sky Economic Development's late 2025 report counted 2,195 open registered nurse positions in the area, a sign of how much hiring the hospitals still need to do.

Billings Apartment Supply And Rents

Billings has a small apartment base for a city of 119,434 people. Census counts 7,824 homes in buildings with five or more units, only 14.4% of the housing stock, and the median home was built in 1980. The Census figure shows that count slipping 2.0% over five years, but City of Billings data reported by Big Sky Economic Development shows finished multifamily units jumping from 78 in 2022 to 687 in 2023. ACS estimates carry a margin of error and lag new construction, so the recent building is probably not fully in the Census number yet.

Larger projects followed. In 2021 developer Mike Stock announced 720 apartment units in four communities on Monad Road on the West End, west of the Rocky Vista campus. In the Heights, HomeFront and Homeword were planning LB Lofts, 102 affordable apartments on Sioux Lane, as of July 2026, with renting expected by the end of 2028. HomeFront said at the time that the city's affordable housing waitlist had nearly 6,000 people on it.

The Census rental vacancy rate is 4.3%, which points to a tight market, and a 2025 Big Sky Economic Development profile of the Heights put rental vacancy there at 3.2%. Rent burden is the pressure point: 48.9% of Billings renters pay 30% or more of income for housing. For anyone weighing apartment syndications in Billings, that means rent growth depends on local wages keeping up, and older 1970s and 1980s buildings may carry deferred maintenance that a buyer should price in.

Property tax rules changed in 2026, and they matter to rental owners. House Bill 231, passed in 2025, created Montana's Homestead Rate, a lower property tax rate for primary residences and for long-term rentals, which the state defines as property rented to tenants as their residence for 28 days or longer for at least seven months of the year. Owners had to apply, giving rental income and expenses, and the state's deadline for the 2026 tax year was March 1. The rate is not automatic for rentals the way it is for many homeowners who got the 2025 rebate, so a buyer should check whether a building was enrolled, whether it qualifies, and how the new rate changes the tax line in the seller's numbers.

Billings Neighborhoods We Watch

Billings splits into a few clear areas, each with a different renter.

Billings By The Numbers

Out of 8 Montana cities in our data, Billings comes in 4th for median gross rent, 6th for renter share and 6th for five-year rent growth. Its rents fall in the middle of the pack. In raw numbers, Billings has about 9,839 more residents, 623 more renter households and 160 fewer homes in buildings with 5 or more units than in the 2015–2019 survey.

Billings Compared With Montana

Billings's median gross rent of $1,138 is above the Montana median of $1,081, and its renter share is 35.2% compared with 30.8% statewide.

Can Tenants Afford Billings Rents?

The median rent in Billings works out to $13,656 a year, about 18.5% of the median household income of $73,712. Under the common 30% guideline, a household needs about $45,500 a year to cover that rent comfortably. That's close to the Montana figure of 17.9%. Renters usually earn less than the all-household median, so the real burden for tenants is higher than this simple ratio shows.

Since the 2015–2019 survey, the median rent rose $239 a month ($2,868 a year), while median household income rose $14,074 a year. The two have moved together, so affordability today looks much like it did five years ago.

Quick Facts: Billings Rental Market

Here's the Billings rental market in short form, with the source on every figure.

• Billings, MT has 119,434 residents, up 9% from the 2015–2019 survey (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• Median household income in Billings, MT is $73,712, up 23.6% over five years (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• Median gross rent in Billings, MT is $1,138 a month, up 26.6% over five years (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• 35.2% of households in Billings, MT rent, about 17,935 renter households (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• 14.4% of homes in Billings, MT are in buildings with 5 or more units (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• The rental vacancy rate in Billings, MT is 4.3%, and 48.9% of renters spend 30% or more of income on rent (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).
• The median home in Billings, MT was built in 1980 (U.S. Census ACS 2020–2024).

What We Look For In A Billings Apartment Building

Our buy box in Billings is the same one we use nationwide: 5+ unit apartment buildings, stabilized or in need of work, priced on today's rents. Then we test the property against the local data on this page and a full inspection of its major systems.

Property taxes are a big line item for any Montana apartment building. We underwrite the tax bill after purchase, not the seller's current bill, since a sale often resets the assessment. Montana has no statewide rent control law, though local rules on notices, fees and deposits still apply. Insurance quotes in Montana reflect wildfire risk, so we get a quote before we make an offer.

Given how fast rents rose here, we assume much slower rent growth going forward and make sure the deal still works if rents stay flat for a while.

Questions To Ask About An Apartment Syndication In Billings

The data on this page turns into a short checklist for evaluating an apartment syndication in Billings.

• What vacancy does the plan assume? Rental vacancy in Billings is 4.3%. A plan that assumes much lower vacancy than the market should explain why.
• What rent growth is underwritten? Rents here rose 26.6% over five years. Ask whether the plan assumes that pace continues, and what happens to the deal if rents stay flat.
• How was the property tax bill estimated? A sale often triggers a reassessment, so the bill after purchase can be well above what the seller pays today.
• How big is the repair reserve? The median home in Billings was built in 1980, and even newer buildings need money set aside for roofs, HVAC and appliances.
• How and when does capital come back? Ask what the plan is for a refinance or sale, and what happens if that takes longer than expected.

How Passive Investing In A Billings Apartment Syndication Works

Here's the short version. The general partner, in this case Skyline, finds an apartment building in Billings, buys it with a loan and investor capital, and runs it. Limited partners supply part of that capital and hold an ownership share, without landlord duties or personal liability for the loan.

Expect your money to be tied up for years, with no easy way to sell your share early, and remember that any investment can lose money. Most deals are open only to accredited investors under Rule 506(b) or 506(c). See investing with Skyline Capital for how we work with limited partners.

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