Exactly How Much Has Missoula’s Rent Gone Up in the Past Year?

It's no secret that the housing market in Missoula has been nothing short of insane over the last couple of years (as demonstrated in this hilarious TikTok), and that's been affecting pretty much everybody - homeowners, renters, business and restaurant owners, you name it.

When I first moved to Missoula, my one-bedroom apartment downtown cost me $645 per month with utilities included. I lived like a king! You'd be lucky to find someone's spare closet for that price in Missoula these days.

Rent has gone up for a lot of people in Missoula over the past year, and it hasn't just been a slight increase either. Montana Right Now is reporting on a study that shows the average apartment rent in Missoula has gone up over 16% in just the last year alone. One person even reported a 49% increase in rent after her six-month lease was up! Who knows how much further this could go?

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So many people and business owners have just been getting priced out and forced to relocate, which is a major part of why we've seen so many closures of beloved Missoula restaurants and other favorite spots recently. Bathing Beauties Beads had to abandon their location of 30 years because a new dispensary offered the landlord three times what the owner was paying in rent. That's insane!

Have you been affected by the rent increases that have been hitting Missoula hard? I know I'm definitely paying a lot more money than I did when I first moved to town three years ago.