Sell Your Commercial Property In Missoula, MT

Who rents in Missoula

Missoula is a majority-renter city: 18,521 of its 34,941 occupied homes are rented, or 53.0%, in ACS 2020-2024 table B25003. Missoula County's renter share is 41.2%, and Montana's is 30.8%. Missoula holds 85.3% of the county's 21,701 renter households.

Students are the first tenant group. The University of Montana enrolled 11,319 students in fall 2026, with more than 1,500 first-time freshmen. Missoula College enrollment grew to 1,726 students.

Providence St. Patrick Hospital reports 1,400 employees and 213 beds, and Community Medical Center employs more than 1,100 people in a 151-bed hospital. Together that is 364 beds. The residency page calls St. Patrick Western Montana's only Level II Trauma Center program.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent in Missoula was $1,189 in ACS 2020-2024, against $1,190 in Missoula County and $1,081 statewide. Median household income in Missoula was $70,392. A year of median rent, $14,268, equals 20.3% of that income.

Renter households carry a heavier load than that ratio suggests. In Missoula, 48.0% of renter households pay 30% or more of income on housing, per table B25070. Another way to read it: 24.0% pay half or more, above Montana's 18.8%.

HUD's FY2027 fair market rents for the Missoula, MT HUD Metro FMR Area took effect October 1, 2026. The table lists HUD's monthly benchmark for each unit size.

Source: HUD FMR documentation. The two-bedroom benchmark sits $501 above the citywide median gross rent, which blends older and smaller units.

The apartment stock

Missoula has 10,143 homes in buildings of five or more units, 27.2% of its 37,317 housing units, per table B25024. Missoula County's share is 18.8%, so Missoula holds 94.9% of the county's 10,684 such homes. Detached houses make up 48.7% of Missoula's stock, against 57.7% countywide.

Larger buildings dominate that stock. Missoula has 2,359 homes in 5-9 unit buildings and 2,727 in 10-19 unit buildings. Another 2,878 sit in 20-49 unit buildings and 2,179 in buildings of 50 or more. That leaves 76.7% of the 5+ stock in buildings of ten units or more.

Smaller rental product matters too. Buildings of two to four units add 4,991 homes in Missoula. Mobile homes add 1,526 more, or 4.1% of the housing stock.

Missoula's median year built is 1981, and 49.0% of its homes predate 1980, per table B25034. An owner preparing to sell commercial real estate in Missoula, MT should expect buyers to price capital work on that older stock. Only 1,061 homes, 2.8%, date from 2020 or later. Rental vacancy was 4.0% in Missoula and 3.8% in Missoula County over 2020-2024, against 5.3% statewide.

Property taxes in Missoula County

A qualifying long-term rental apartment building in Montana is taxed at 1.10% of market value for 2026. Montana Code 15-6-134 lists rental multifamily dwelling units as class four residential property. The Department of Revenue confirms the flat 1.10% rate for multifamily long-term rentals.

The reduced rate is not automatic. Under Montana Code 15-6-411, owners apply between December 1 and March 1. The Department of Revenue defines a long-term rental as one rented for 28 days or more for at least 7 months a year. A building that does not qualify falls to the 1.90% default residential rate.

Here is the worked example. A $2,000,000 market value times 1.10% gives a $22,000 taxable value. Missoula County's FY 2026 budget notice gives a multiplier of 0.2204 for county taxes inside the City of Missoula. That produces $4,848.80 in county taxes.

At the 1.90% default rate, the taxable value is $38,000 and county taxes are $8,375.20. City, school and state levies are added on the bill, so the full amount is higher. In Lolo and other areas outside city limits, the county multiplier is 0.27058.

Owners contest values with the Department of Revenue. Montana Code 15-7-102 sets 30 days from the classification and appraisal notice for an objection covering both years of the two-year cycle. A later objection, made by June 1 of the second year, applies only to that year.

Montana's Constitution, Article VIII, Section 17, bars any tax on the sale or transfer of real property. Anyone looking to sell commercial property in Missoula, MT therefore faces no transfer tax.

Landlord rules

Montana sets landlord rules at the state level. Montana Code 7-1-111 denies local governments with self-government powers any power to control rent on private residential or commercial property. It also bars powers to license landlords beyond the state landlord-tenant chapters.

Under Montana Code 70-25-202, a landlord has 30 days after the tenancy ends to send an itemized list of charges with any refund. If there are no damages, cleaning or unpaid rent, the deposit is due within 10 days.

For unpaid rent, Montana Code 70-24-422 requires 3 days' written notice before termination. Most other lease violations carry a 14-day notice. A month-to-month tenancy ends on 30 days' written notice under Montana Code 70-24-441. Buyers will ask for deposit ledgers and notice files when selling commercial property in Missoula.

What this means for an owner

Missoula gives a seller a clear demand story: a 53.0% renter share, 4.0% rental vacancy and two hospitals with 364 beds between them. Buyers will weigh that against a 1981 median year built and 48.0% of renters paying 30% or more of income.

The tax rate is the other lever for anyone who plans to sell commercial real estate in Missoula, MT. Under Montana Code 15-6-411, the reduced rate lasts until the end of the tax year in which ownership changes. A buyer must then reapply, so expect questions about whether the 1.10% rate is in place.

If you plan to sell your apartment building in Missoula, start with our cap rate calculator to see how taxes shift value. Our analysis of Missoula zoning changes for apartments covers new supply.

To sell commercial property in Missoula, MT, our seller page explains how we underwrite. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit apartment buildings in Missoula, from the University District and Southgate to the Northside and Lolo.