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Great Places for Tech in Montana: Butte

Montana High Tech Business Alliance

Montana's Historic Mining City Shines as an Affordable Tech Hub

Updated January 22, 2025

By Christina Henderson, Melissa Paulsen, and Emily Simonson

Launched in 2019, the Alliance’s Great Cities for Tech series aims to help people find the right community when they’re looking at taking a job, starting a company, or locating a home or office in Montana. Our communications team updates these articles regularly. Send questions or feedback to communications[at]mthightech.org. Check out our recent stories on Bozeman and Billings.

Dubbed the “Richest Hill on Earth,” over $48 billion has been unearthed from Butte’s mines to date. In recent decades, leaders have worked to diversify the economy, attracting entrepreneurs, outdoor enthusiasts, artists, and young families. Photo via Main Street Butte.

Butte is a city unlike any other. Firmly planted in the heart of Montana, local pride runs so deep that generations of residents have called it Butte, America. According to historian David Emmons, the nickname owes its origins to the diverse immigrants who came to work in Butte’s mines.

“People in Butte never thought of themselves as Montanans,” Emmons said. “They identified first with Butte and then with places overseas.”

Butte is the kind of place tech workers love—a vibrant college town of 36,000 people with outdoor amenities such as public land, trout streams, bike trails, and modern parks.

Often underestimated, the Mining City is a hidden gem. Butte’s grit and authenticity have attracted a civic-minded creative class telling a new story of revitalization.

Doing Business in Butte

Affordable Real Estate

Population: 36,000 in 2022

Nicknames: The Richest Hill on Earth, The Mining City

Founded: 1864

Area: 719 sq mi

Median rent: $1350 (Jan. 2025)

Median home value: $266,918 (Dec. 2024)

Unemployment rate: 2.9% (Nov. 2024)

Nearby towns: Williamsburg, Walkerville, Homestake, Anaconda

What do you call the people: Buttian

Butte is conveniently located at the crossroads of two major interstates, I-15 and I-90, halfway between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Aspiring homeowners and investors are discovering Butte as they get priced out of other Montana communities.

According to a Montana Public Radio podcast, real estate prices in big tech hubs have been driven up by demand:

  • In Bozeman—Montana’s fastest-growing city between 2010-2020—the median price of a home has spiked to over $700,000.

  • In Missoula, the median home cost is approximately $550,000.

  • In Butte, the median home price is still under $300,000.

Tech entrepreneurs are drawn to Butte’s Montana lifestyle, which includes accessible recreation, tight-knit communities, and a cost of living approximately nine percent below the national average.

Given Butte’s boomtown history, most of its housing stock was built before 1939. Homebuyers are charmed by snug miners’ cottages or painted-lady Victorians with turrets and stained glass.

Revitalization in Uptown Butte  

Butte’s Uptown district—a historic business area built on a steep hill—has experienced a renaissance with modern businesses like craft breweries, yoga studios, and specialty retailers. Key industries driving Butte’s economy include:

  • Energy

  • Engineering

  • Healthcare

  • Manufacturing

  • Media Arts

  • Technology

Notably, NorthWestern Energy, headquartered in Butte, employs over 200 people at its $27 million Uptown facility.

Through environmental restoration, renewable energy, and community impact projects, NorthWestern Energy helps deliver a bright future to every area it serves. In 2024, Newsweek named NorthWestern Energy a Best Place to Work for Job Starters as well as one of America's Greatest Workplaces for the second consecutive year.

NorthWestern Energy’s $27 million headquarters in Uptown Butte built by Dick Anderson Construction. For over 100 years, NorthWestern Energy has served more than 795,000 customers across Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Photo via Dick Anderson Construction.

Innovative startups like BioSqueeze Inc. are also flourishing. BioSqueeze uses biomineralization to seal methane leaks in oil and gas wells across the country. In 2022, BioSqueeze earned a spot on the Alliance’s list of Montana Startups to Watch.

The Montana Connections Business Development Park also houses several local manufacturing operations that contribute to the state’s advanced manufacturing industry.

Healthcare

Butte’s healthcare sector is supported by private enterprises like the National Center for Health Care Informatics (NCHCI).

In 2023, NCHCI founded the $35 million Praxis Center for Innovative Learning in Uptown. The four-story complex is the nation's first independent, non-profit, non-aligned medical simulation training center dedicated to rural healthcare.

Media Arts

Butte’s central location is also a draw for creative industries. In 2020, Montana Studios acquired NorthWestern Energy’s old headquarters with plans to transform the space into sound stages for movies.

Maureen Porter, Business Manager for Montana Studios and a Butte native, said the company benefited from Butte’s geography.

“It's a great location with all the cinematic colors in between,” Porter said. “Mountain landscapes, rivers, just anything and everything that you would want to film is close and accessible to Butte.”

Other film production companies have taken notice of Butte’s stunning scenery. The first season of 1923, the hit prequel to the neo-Western drama, Yellowstone, was filmed in Uptown in 2022.

Butte also benefits from dedicated industry groups like the Butte Film & Entertainment Committee (BFEC) which assists film crews with casting, location scouting, and market research.

Education & Workforce

The Montana Technological University campus in Butte. As Montana’s leading STEM university, Montana Tech provides degree programs in high-paying fields like data science, engineering, and more. Photo via Montana Tech.

Butte is home to Montana Technological University, a leading STEM university with over 2,200 students. Located in the Rocky Mountains, Montana Tech continues to earn awards and recognition for its programs including:

Montana Tech offers 2-year, 4-year, graduate, and PhD programs in high-paying fields like construction technology, data science, engineering, pre-professional programs, and more.

“Montana Tech is such a key driver in our community,” said Paul Babb, Communities Relations Manager for Northwestern Energy. “Having access to a school like Montana Tech really opens up a lot of avenues for businesspeople.”

Highlands College of Montana Tech, Butte’s 2-year public college, offers workforce readiness programs, certificates, and associate degrees in rapidly growing fields across Montana.

In January 2025, Highlands College received a $5.75 million grant by the ‌U.S. Department of Labor to help train broadband technicians across Western Montana in partnership with other academic institutions and local telecommunications employers.

Highlands College also offers dual enrollment for high school students to get a jump-start on their career aspirations. See our Education & Training Resource Guide for specific training programs at Highlands College and elsewhere in Montana.

Transportation

The Butte Silver-Bow Bus and Paratransit Service offers free rides throughout the Butte urban area including Walkerville and both Montana Tech campuses.

Butte also has several bike routes which are marked with a “Bikeable Butte” sign as the city strives to be the most bike-friendly place in Montana. Check out Bikeable Butte for biking information and resources.

The city’s Bert Mooney Airport provides daily direct flights to Salt Lake City and free parking for ticket passengers.

Amenities and Fun

“Wildly Historic”

Historic character is Butte’s trademark. In the late 1800s, Butte gave rise to the three Copper Kings—rival industrialists William A. Clark, Marcus Daly, and Augustus Heinze. The city’s mining wealth built one of the largest National Historic Landmarks with more than 6,000 historic structures. Butte’s Gilded Age architecture lives on in its ornate courthouse, Victorian mansions, and tall buildings.

The city’s 14 iconic headframes—tall, black steel elevators—still stand guard over closed mines and glow with red lights at night. The World Museum of Mining runs an underground tour with hard hats and headlamps 100 feet below the Orphan Girl Mine to transport guests back to the time of the Copper Kings.

The World Museum of Mining offers tours 100 feet underground at the Orphan Girl Mine, one of 14 steel headframes, or “gallows frames,” that mark closed mine entrances. Photo by Eric Henderson.

Old Butte Historical Adventures also offers a window into Butte’s opulent and gritty past. The City Underground Tour descends into the Rookwood Speakeasy, sealed up in the 1920s, as well as the city jail where local daredevil Evel Knievel was booked for reckless driving.

If you prefer to stay above ground, the Butte Chamber offers 2-hour trolley tours through the Historic District. Popular stops include:

The Butte Trolley, run by the Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce, offers two-hour long trolley tours through the Historic District. Photo via the Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce.

Butte’s historic sites acknowledge its complex legacy. The mining industry brought jobs and prosperity on one hand, but human costs and pollution on the other.

Learn more about Butte’s intricate history by listening to the Richest Hill podcast from Montana Public Radio.

Butte-iful Scenery Makes for Endless Recreational Opportunities

Magnificent Trails & Fishing Holes

Surrounded by over 3.2 million acres of the Beaverhead/Deerlodge National Forest, Butte offers endless opportunities to get outside. Basecamp Butte offers a myriad of tips to enjoy Butte’s recreation to its fullest.

Maureen Porter recommended hiking the Thompson Park and Continental Divide National Scenic Trails (CDNST). The CDNST is in the “triple crown” of long-distance hiking trails in the U.S. along with the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails.

Butte’s Copperway Trails allow walking, biking, or boarding between heritage sites and the business district.

Southwest Montana also attracts anglers from all over the world to fly fish in blue-ribbon trout streams. The Big Hole River is a pristine mountain river that flows wild and free with more than 3,000 fish per mile.

The 26-mile Silver Bow Creek Greenway is transforming a toxic streambed into a recreational corridor teeming with plants, insects, fish, beavers, and bald eagles.

Elite Mountain Biking

In 2025, Singletracks, a mountain biking blog, ranked Butte second on their list of top 10 U.S. Mountain Biking Towns. Riders can check out the Whiskey Gulch Mountain Bike Skills Park at Montana Tech or one of two community riding clubs.

For those seeking a challenge, the Butte 100 Mountain Bike Race on the Continental Divide bills itself as the most difficult mountain bike race in the country.

Butte is a world-class mountain biking destination. The Whiskey Gulch Mountain Bike Skills Park at Montana Tech includes several miles of dirt road biking and is a popular “between-classes” ride for students. Photo via Montana Tech.

Winter Recreation to Fuel Adventure All Year Long

The fun continues in winter with cross-country or backcountry skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, fat tire biking, or ice fishing at Georgetown Lake. There are seven ski areas within three hours of Butte, including Discovery Ski Area which is only 45 minutes away and has terrain for all skill levels.

Less than 20 miles outside of Butte is Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. Fairmont is open year-round and contains a water slide along with Olympic-size indoor/outdoor hot spring pools.

Family-friendly Activities

Butte’s Stodden Park has become the envy of other Montana communities. The Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation and Montana Resources funded $10 million in upgrades, including a $1 million destination playground. Completed in 2018, the accessible Butte-themed play structure includes a zipline, a giant mining truck, three headframes, and a mini “M” mountain inspired by the well-known local landmark.

The Stodden Park project also included new tennis courts and a pair of virtual reality golf simulators at Highland View Golf Course.

For summer fun with the family, check out the Spirit of Columbia Gardens Carousel, and the taxpayer-funded Ridge Waters—an $8.7 million pool and waterpark with slides and a lazy river.

In the winter, families frequent the Butte Community Ice Center for hockey, figure skating, and bonspiels with the Copper City Curling Club.

Cultural Events and Festivals

Celebrating Butte’s Heritage as a Mining Melting Pot

Also known as the Festival City, nobody throws a party like Butte.

With the highest percentage of Irish residents outside of Ireland (25 percent), St. Patrick’s Day is Butte’s biggest celebration. Around 30,000 visitors come for bagpipers in kilts, corned beef and cabbage, and green beer.

The Butte Civic Center is Southwest Montana’s premier multi-purpose facility. The Civic Center hosts high-profile events, concerts, tradeshows, local sports tournaments, and more. Photo via Butte Civic Center.

In the evening, folks head to the Butte Civic Center for performances by local band Dublin Gulch and the Tiernan Irish Dancers. Butte also hosts the An Ri Ra Montana Irish Festival in August.

Reflecting its history as a mining melting pot, Butte hosts several diverse cultural celebrations throughout the year. Additional events include:

A personal favorite of Paul Babb is the Montana Folk Festival, held at the Original Mine Yard headframe. The Montana Folk Festival is one of the northwest’s largest free outdoor music festivals.

Held annually in Butte at the Original Mine Yard headframe, the Montana Folk Festival is loved by locals and showcases over 200 of the country’s finest musicians, dancers, and craftspeople. Photo via Montana Folk Festival.

A Hub for the Creative Arts

In addition to its slew of fun-filled festivals, Butte hosts weekly farmers markets, monthly art walks, and Music on Main in the summers.

For Buttian artists and creatives, the Imagine Butte Resource Center (IBRC) is a prime gathering spot offering workshops and a print studio.

Additionally, the Clark Chateau, a 26-room mansion, is a public museum and arts center hosting book clubs, a ukelele group, and a weekly afterschool program for young creators.

Buttians have enjoyed community concerts and plays at the historic Mother Lode Theater in Uptown for over 100 years. Photo via the Butte Symphony.

In 2024, the Mother Lode Theater celebrated its 100th anniversary. The theater is home to the Butte Symphony, Orphan Girl Children’s Theatre, and community concerts that contribute to Butte’s lively music scene.

Ready to start planning your trip to Butte? See Visit Butte to dig into all the charming amenities of Montana’s Mining City.

About the Publisher: Launched in 2014, the Montana High Tech Business Alliance is a nonpartisan nonprofit association of more than 200 high tech and manufacturing companies and affiliates creating high-paying jobs in Montana. For more information, visit MTHighTech.org or subscribe to our newsletter.

About the Authors: 

Christina Henderson has served as executive director of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance since its launch in April 2014. She holds an English/Education degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the University of Montana.

Melissa Paulsen is the communications coordinator for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance. She graduated from the University of Montana in 2022 with a BFA in creative writing and a minor in history.

Emily Simonson was the staff writer and content creator for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance in 2020. Originally from Havre, Emily graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in English.

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