How to Meet People if You're From Columbus, Montana
If you're from Columbus, Montana, you know the feeling: you open a dating app, scroll through the options, and you've seen everyone before. Columbus is a town of about 2,000 people in Stillwater County, Montana, and a pool that size only goes so far.
Columbus in numbers
| Population (2025 estimate) | 1,964 |
|---|---|
| County | Stillwater County |
| Change since 2020 | +5.8% |
| Size rank in Montana | 38 of 127 cities and towns |
| Larger than | 70% of Montana's cities and towns |
| Other cities and towns within 30 miles | 4 (8,900 people combined) |
| Nearest city of 25,000 or more (OR, ID, WA, MT) | Billings, Montana: 35 miles (121,000 people) |
Population estimates by year:
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,865 | 1,870 | 1,905 | 1,915 | 1,960 | 1,964 |
Why dating close to home runs out
Add up every incorporated city and town within 30 miles of Columbus and you get 4 places with about 8,900 people between them, not counting Columbus itself. Within 60 miles it's 11 places and about 135,000 people. Those totals count incorporated places only, so people outside city limits would add to them, but the point stands: dating apps that sort by distance start with that circle, which is why small-town members see the same faces so often.
| Distance from Columbus | Other cities and towns | People in them |
|---|---|---|
| Within 10 miles | 0 | 0 |
| Within 30 miles | 4 | 8,949 |
| Within 60 miles | 11 | 135,208 |
| Within 100 miles | 25 | 230,881 |
Why Billings is out of reach for you on the big apps
Say you live in Columbus and want to meet someone in Billings, 35 miles away. On a distance-ranked app, that person is shown their own neighborhood first, then the next one out, and Columbus is 35 miles down that line, behind a city of about 121,000. Tinuiti's analysis of Tinder's algorithm says proximity is a key factor in who it shows you, and any app that sorts by distance works the same way. You haven't done anything wrong. You live in the wrong place for the ranking.
Billings has about 62 times as many people as Columbus, so a member from Columbus is outnumbered there roughly 62 to 1 before the ranking even starts. There are 4 other incorporated places closer to Billings than Columbus is, with about 8,400 people between them, and they tend to come ahead of you in Billings's deck.
On Amarbis, ranking isn't based on distance. Choose Montana as your region and Billings is in your pool with everyone else in Montana, so you aren't placed behind the person's next-door neighbor because of where you live.
Bigger places within reach of Columbus, each with its own guide:
- Billings, MT: 121,239 people, 35 miles away
- Bozeman, MT: 58,814 people, 87 miles away
- Belgrade, MT: 13,107 people, 93 miles away
How region-based dating changes it
On dating apps that sort by distance, the people nearest you come first. On Amarbis you choose your region, so who you meet isn't decided by how close they live to Columbus. Choose Montana and you're meeting people from a state of about 1.1 million. The nearest city of 25,000 or more to Columbus is Billings (35 miles away).
Other places near Columbus
- Laurel, MT: 7,205 people, 23 miles away
- Red Lodge, MT: 2,723 people, 31 miles away
- Billings, MT: 121,239 people, 35 miles away
- Big Timber, MT: 1,686 people, 36 miles away
- Livingston, MT: 9,290 people, 63 miles away
- Roundup, MT: 2,075 people, 66 miles away
Browse every city and town in Montana.
How to start from Columbus
- Sign up free and build a profile that sounds like you: a clear face photo and one specific thing about life in Columbus.
- Set your region to Montana, or wider if you like.
- Start a conversation before you plan a drive; the miles only matter once you both want to meet.
Amarbis is free to start: 25 likes a day, unlimited messaging with your matches, and no credit card. Join free on Amarbis, or see the plans and prices.
More from Amarbis
- Why Amarbis is the best dating app for small towns
- Singles in the United States
- International dating guide
- Overcoming language barriers in love
- Meeting someone safely for the first time
- Plans and pricing
Population figures are U.S. Census Bureau estimates for July 1, 2025. Distances are straight-line miles between place center points, so road distances are longer. Counts of nearby places include incorporated cities and towns in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Montana only.