The best place to own a home in Montana is in Jefferson County, east of Butte, when comparing the cost of rent to the cost of a mortgage, according to smartasset.com. It takes 3.5 years in Jefferson County to break even, with the cost of rent.

The average monthly mortgage payment is $2,001 while monthly rent is $1,244 and the average home price is $465,243. Yellowstone County is considered the fifth best city in Montana to own rather than rent, with a payback period of 4.1 years.

The average monthly mortgage payment is $1,440 while average monthly rent is $1,332. The averge price of a home in Yellowstone County is $334,775. Other counties in the top ten in Montana were Lincoln, Golden Valley, Lewis and Clark, and Gallatin.