Which Montana Cities Would Appear in This Viral Trend?

Living in Montana for long enough often means living in more than one Montana town. Some people grow up in small towns and then move to places like Missoula, Bozeman, Helena, Dillon, or Billings for college while others move across the state for work. Some have had to move out of Montana's largest cities because the cost of living was unsustainable.

'Cities I Dislike' Trend

Over the holidays a trend popped up on X/Twitter that had people ranking American and International cities with an easy "fill in the blank" type game.

One of the funnier examples puts one city in for every answer, suggesting a complicated experience living there.

'Cities I Dislike' in Montana

If this rubric was applied to Montana cities, I wonder if Montanans would agree on the rankings, or if Billings would be biased in one direction, Bozeman in another etc.

Very likely, you'd get a dozen permutations if you asked Montanans how they'd rank Montana cities, but I'll give it a try. Having lived in Missoula and Billings, this is how I think each town would fill out the rubric.

From Someone Who Lives in Missoula

City I dislike: Bozeman
City I think is overrated: Bozeman
City I think is underrated: Missoula
City I like: Helena
City I love: Bigfork
City I feel most myself in: Missoula
City I still need to visit: Livingston
City I dream of living in: Lakeside

From Someone Who Lives in Billings

City I dislike: Missoula
City I think is overrated: Bozeman
City I think is underrated: Billings
City I like: Great Falls
City I love: Butte
City I feel most myself in: Miles City
City I still need to visit: Lewistown
City I dream of living in: Red Lodge

But if I was going to try to guess how the state, as a whole, would fill this out, here's my best guess.

City I dislike: Bozeman
City I think is overrated: Missoula
City I think is underrated: Helena
City I like: Livingston
City I love: Butte
City I feel most myself in: Butte
City I still need to visit: Virginia City
City I dream of living in: Whitefish

But what do I know? Let's hear from you--how would you fill this out for Montana cities? Put your ideas in the comments.