HomeMontanaLewis and Clark CountyHelena city
Helena city, Montana: commercial real estate data.
Helena city is a Census city of 33,639 people across 17.17 square miles of land, in Lewis and Clark County. Median household income is $71,036, 52.6 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 82 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $60.1 m.
78 sourced place values · tier FULL · 8 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
Helena
What Helena is
- Census place typecity
- Land area17.17 sq mi
- Water area0.04 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land1,959
- County holding the largest share of its areaLewis and Clark County, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
How many people live in Helena
- Population33,639
- Median age40.5
- Population under 186,416
- Share under 1819.1 percent
- Population 65 and over7,294
- Share 65 and over21.7 percent
- Households15,774
- Family households7,490
- Share of households that are families47.5 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
Income and work in Helena
- Median household income$71,036
- Per capita income$46,928
- Civilian labor force17,166
- Employed16,672
- Unemployed494 plus or minus 153
- Unemployment rate2.9 percent plus or minus 0.9
- Adults 25 and over24,006
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher95.1 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher50.6 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree18.5 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
Housing in Helena
- Housing units16,591
- Occupied units15,774
- Vacant units817 plus or minus 277
- Vacancy rate4.9 percent plus or minus 1.7
- Owner occupied8,303
- Renter occupied7,471
- Ownership rate52.6 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$387,300
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,092
- Annual rent as a share of median income18.4 percent
- Single family units9,516
- Share single family57.4 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more6,487
- Share in buildings of two or more39.1 percent
- Mobile homes588 plus or minus 162
- Median year structure built1974
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
How Helena gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute14,028
- Commuting under 15 minutes8,750
- Share commuting under 15 minutes62.4 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more1,113 plus or minus 296
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more7.9 percent plus or minus 2.1
- Drove alone64.4 percent
- Carpooled9.2 percent plus or minus 2.0
- Public transport0.3 percent plus or minus 0.4
- Walked7.3 percent plus or minus 1.9
- Worked from home16.2 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Helena
SBA loans in Helena (7(a))
- Approvals82
- Gross approval$60,127,700
- Average approval$733,265
- Median approval$360,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,999,500
- Largest approval$4,750,000
- Jobs supported966
- Jobs per approval11.8
- Loans with a final outcome14
- Paid in full13
- Charged off1
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans7.1 percent
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more24.4 percent
- Share to franchises7.3 percent
- Distinct lenders21
- Distinct industries by NAICS49
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Helena
SBA loans in Helena (504)
- Approvals32
- Gross approval$12,529,000
- Average approval$391,531
- Median approval$301,000
- Largest approval$1,347,000
- Jobs supported123
- Loans with a final outcome10
- Charged off0
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans0.0 percent
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs4
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Lewis and Clark County, not Helena
Lewis and Clark County context, not Helena figures
These are Lewis and Clark County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Helena measurements.
- Establishments in Lewis and Clark County2,603
- Employment at those establishments, Lewis and Clark County27,265
- Covered employment, Lewis and Clark County39,957
- Average annual pay, Lewis and Clark County$62,248
- Average weekly wage, Lewis and Clark County$1,197
- Housing units permitted, Lewis and Clark County444
- Of those, single family, Lewis and Clark County99
- County product, 2024, Lewis and Clark County$5,687,584,000
- County product change over the prior year, Lewis and Clark County7.1 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Lewis and Clark County$72,273
Every figure in this section is published for Lewis and Clark County as a whole and is not a measurement of Helena. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- This place is not listed as a community in the FEMA Community Status Book, so no NFIP participation or CRS class is shown.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
Helena questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Helena, Montana?
33,639, in 15,774 households. Helena city covers 17.17 square miles of land, which is 1,959 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Helena in?
Lewis and Clark County, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in Helena?
$71,036. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $387,300. Median gross rent is $1,092 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Helena businesses?
82 7(a) approvals totalling $60.1 m, across 21 lenders, median approval $360,000, plus 32 504 approvals worth $12.5 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Helena, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Helena borrowers get paid back?
Of the 14 loans that have reached a final outcome, 13 were paid in full and 1 charged off, a charge off rate of 7.1 percent. Loans still running are excluded because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
Are the county figures on this page Helena figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Lewis and Clark County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of Helena.
Is zoning published for Helena?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.