Every deadline, width and penalty here was read on September 23, 2026, off the city's own page or the municipal code that city hosts, and each one is quoted and linked beside the line it supports. Cities amend these ordinances between winters and several publish the deadline on a seasonal page that changes in autumn, so the link beside a line is what governs on the day.

Montana Sidewalk Snow Removal: 24 to 72 Hours

Q: Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Montana?

The rules collected here are sidewalk rules, and the great majority of Montana cities publish a second one about where the snow may go once it has been moved, most often forbidding it on the travelled part of the road. Both come off the same city pages linked below, and the Montana cities that publish only the second are listed as such rather than folded in with the rest.

Q: Which cities in the country give you the least time?

St. Louis, Santa Fe, Sheridan, where the ordinance allows no hours at all. Above them, 57 of the 150 cities that count in hours give twelve hours or less, 74 give exactly a day, and 18 give more than a day. The widest gap inside a single state is Maine, from four hours to three days.

Nothing

What state law sets

37 states are in the same position

24 to 72h

The range across its cities

[object Object] is the tightest

5 of 5

Cities with an ordinance

2 clear it themselves and bill

September 23, 2026

Read

1 publish a penalty

The short answer

Montana runs from a day in Billings to three days in Kalispell

Montana has no sidewalk clearing statute at all. The clock is a city's instead, and five Montana cities count in hours. The tightest is Billings at a day and the loosest Kalispell at three days, a gap of 48 hours inside one state. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it.

Every Montana city below publishes somewhere to report a walk that has not been cleared, linked on its own line. The city that publishes the rule is the city that answers questions about it.

Nothing at state level5 of 5 cities with an ordinance5 counting in hours2 clear it themselves

City by city, in each city’s own words

The 5 Montana cities that publish an ordinance

Five Montana cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Montana as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Each card below carries what that city published and nothing else: the deadline in its own sentence, the sentence it was read from, and the width, the penalty and the wording about ice where the city printed them. The chip is a band derived from the wording for sorting, not a restatement of it.

Billings
13h to 24h
within 24 hours after the storm event
According to City Code (Section 22-406), owners or their agents are required to remove all snow, ice, or slush within 24 hours after the storm event.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
owners or their agents
- Section City Code (Section 22-406)
- Published by City of Billings Code Enforcement Division
Snow Removal, City of Billings, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports
Great Falls
13h to 24h
before 11 am each day in commercial areas and within twenty-four (24) hours after the snowfall in residential areas
Snow, ice, and similar material that has accumulated during the preceding hours shall be removed from public sidewalks in commercial areas before 11 am each day and shall be removed from residential areas within twenty-four (24) hours after the snowfall.
What it says about ice
Once cleared, all sidewalks shall be kept clear of snow, ice, and similar material.
- Section City Code 12.11.040 - Snow and Ice Removal
- Published by City of Great Falls Public Works, Street Division
Snow and Ice Control, City of Great Falls, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports
Helena
13h to 24h
within twenty four (24) hours after the cessation of snowfall, and in the B-2 and B-3 Zoning Districts by nine o'clock (9:00) A.M. of the next business day, by twelve o'clock (12:00) noon of the next non-business day, or within four (4) business hours after any snow or ice deposit, whichever period is shorter
Except as provided in subsection B of this section and regardless of the manner in which the snow or ice is deposited, all snow and ice must be removed from sidewalks on public rights-of-way within the City within twenty four (24) hours after the cessation of snowfall or other cause of the accumulation.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
Every owner of property within the City fronting on or abutting a paved or brick sidewalk on public rights-of-way
What it says about ice
In the event the Director of Public Works Transportation Systems determines snow or ice on a sidewalk cannot be reasonably removed, the Director of Public Works Transportation Systems may require the use of sand or other suitable substance to make pedestrian travel reasonably safe.
- Penalty a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00), or thirty percent (30%) of such costs, whichever is greater
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section Helena City Code Title 7, Chapter 8, Section 7-8-1 (Ordinance No. 3287)
- Published by City of Helena, Department of Transportation Systems
Ordinance No. 3287, City of Helena, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports
Missoula
13h to 24h
within 24 hours following a snowfall
Missoula municipal code (MMC 12.16.30) requires residents to clear sidewalks of snow and ice within 24 hours following a snowfall.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
Property owners in Missoula
- If it is not done the city may clear it and charge the property
- Section MMC 12.16.30
- Published by Missoula Public Works & Mobility, Street Operations & Maintenance Division
Sidewalk Snow Removal, City of Missoula, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports
Kalispell
Over 24h
Business owners should clear snow within 24 hours of a snow event, and homeowners within 72 hours
Like most cities and towns, property owners are required to clear snow and ice from adjoining sidewalks. Business owners should clear snow within 24 hours of a snow event, and homeowners within 72 hours.
Whose duty it is, as the ordinance puts it
property owners
- Published by City of Kalispell
Read from an archived city news flash dated December 17, 2024; the city's Snow Removal page is the live home for the same guidance.
Shared Snow Clearing Responsibilities - A Matter of Public Safety, City of Kalispell, read September 23, 2026 Where the city takes reports

Why one Montana answer does not exist

Billings and Kalispell are 48 hours apart

A house on one side of a city line in Montana has a day and a house on the other has three days, which is the whole reason a state level answer to this question is no answer. 23 states carry a gap like it, the widest being Maine at 68 hours.

Neither city is wrong and neither is unusual. A sidewalk ordinance is written by a council for the street outside its own window, and nothing above it in Montana obliges one council to look at what the next one wrote. The figure that applies to a reader is the one their own city published, which is why every card above carries the city’s name before it carries a number.

A sidewalk cleared earlier in the day with fresh wind blown snow already lying back across the outer half of it, a plowed road to one side and an unbroken snow field to the other — Almost every hour count on these pages runs from the end of the snowfall rather than from its start, which is the one drafting choice the ordinances broadly share. What counts as the end of it, and what a fresh drift across a cleared walk does to the clock, is left to the wording each city chose, and that wording is quoted in full on the state pages. “Snow drifting onto a shoveled sidewalk, Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, 2024-01-20”, Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0

What Montana itself did

Montana has written nothing on this

Nothing in the Montana statutes was found setting a sidewalk clearing deadline, which leaves the question to the cities below.

That is the national pattern rather than a Montana quirk. 13 of the 50 legislatures have a statute that touches sidewalk snow at all, 10 of those do nothing but let a city decide, and not one of them sets a deadline. The clock is a municipal ordinance everywhere in the country.

Nothing at state level

No Montana statute was found on this

has no sidewalk clearing statute at all

What happens if it is not done

A bill or a penalty, depending on the Montana city

Two Montana cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty.

One Montana city prints a penalty beside the rule, each as a dollar figure. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used.

Both routes are printed on the cards above in the sentence each was read from, because a penalty clause paraphrased is a different statement than the one the city made. Where a city publishes a page for reporting a walk that has not been cleared, that link is on its card too.

How Montana compares

The same question in the other forty nine

150 cities nationally count in hours, and the counts run from no hours at all to 72. 74 land on exactly a day, 57 give twelve hours or less, and 18 give more than a day. A further 22 set a time of day or a depth of snow rather than a count of hours at all.

The bar splits those 150 cities by how long they allow, and the table beneath it orders the states by how tight their tightest city is, which is a different ranking from how much snow a state gets.

3 of 150No hours allowed
23 of 150Six hours or less
31 of 150Within twelve hours
75 of 150Within a day
18 of 150More than a day

Fifty states and 267 cities, read September 23, 2026.
State	What the legislature did	What its cities do	With an ordinance	Tightest city
Missouri	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	ImmediatelySt. Louis
Wyoming	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 3	ImmediatelySheridan
New Mexico	A cross reference	Cities count in hours	1 of 4	ImmediatelySanta Fe
Michigan	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	2hMarquette
Maryland	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hAnnapolis
Massachusetts	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	3hBoston
Pennsylvania	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	3hErie
Virginia	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 7	3hRoanoke
Connecticut	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hDanbury
Ohio	A city may	Cities count in hours	8 of 8	4hAthens
New York	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	4hNew York City
Maine	A city may	Cities count in hours	4 of 8	4hWaterville
Vermont	A city may	Cities count in hours	1 of 6	4hWinooski
Rhode Island	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	5hNewport
Indiana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	6hWest Lafayette
Nebraska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	8hFremont
New Jersey	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	8hJersey City
Utah	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	8hPark City
Iowa	Owner duty, no clock	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	10hAmes
Kansas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	12hSalina
Delaware	Nothing found	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	12hMilford
Washington	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	12hSeattle
California	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 2	12hSouth Lake Tahoe
North Dakota	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hBismarck
Wisconsin	The city clears it	Cities count in hours	7 of 7	24hGreen Bay
Colorado	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hAurora
Illinois	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hChampaign
Minnesota	A city may	Cities count in hours	6 of 6	24hDuluth
Montana	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hBillings
South Dakota	A city may	Cities count in hours	5 of 5	24hWatertown
Oklahoma	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 7	24hTulsa
West Virginia	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	3 of 4	24hMorgantown
Alaska	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hSeward
Idaho	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 3	24hIdaho Falls
Texas	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	2 of 7	24hAmarillo
Arizona	Nothing at state level	Cities count in hours	1 of 5	24hFlagstaff
Oregon	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	2 of 3	None published
Arkansas	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 7	None published
Kentucky	Nothing at state level	Set by the clock or a depth	1 of 3	None published
Tennessee	Nothing at state level	Required, no time named	1 of 4	None published
Alabama	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Florida	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Georgia	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Hawaii	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 2	None published
Louisiana	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 6	None published
Mississippi	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
Nevada	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published
New Hampshire	A city may	No city rule found	0 of 7	None published
North Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 4	None published
South Carolina	Nothing at state level	No city rule found	0 of 3	None published

Montana sidewalk snow removal questions

How long do you have to shovel your sidewalk in Montana?

Montana has no sidewalk clearing statute at all. The clock is a city's instead, and five Montana cities count in hours. The tightest is Billings at a day and the loosest Kalispell at three days, a gap of 48 hours inside one state. Nationally the deadlines run from no hours at all to three days across 150 cities, and no state legislature anywhere has put a number on it. Five Montana cities publish a count of hours, and each one below is quoted from the ordinance or the city page it was read from. A day is the commonest figure in Montana as it is nationally: 74 of the 150 cities that count in hours land on exactly that.

Does Montana have a state law about clearing sidewalks?

Why do two Montana cities give different deadlines?

A house on one side of a city line in Montana has a day and a house on the other has three days, which is the whole reason a state level answer to this question is no answer. 23 states carry a gap like it, the widest being Maine at 68 hours. Billings writes: “According to City Code (Section 22-406), owners or their agents are required to remove all snow, ice, or slush within 24 hours after the storm event.”

Will the city clear my sidewalk in Montana?

Two Montana cities publish a rule letting the city clear the walk and put the cost on the property. That is the commoner enforcement route nationally: 102 of the 187 cities with an ordinance carry one, against 105 that publish a penalty. Helena sets it out this way: “Should any person fail to clear away or treat with sand or other suitable substance and subsequently clear away any snow or ice from any sidewalk as required within the above prescribed time frames, the Director of Public Works Transportation Systems may, as soon as practicable after such failure, have the sidewalk cleared.”

What is the fine for not shovelling a sidewalk in Montana?

One Montana city prints a penalty beside the rule, each as a dollar figure. Each is reproduced below in the words its own ordinance used. Helena prints a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00), or thirty percent (30%) of such costs, whichever is greater: “Each property owner who fails to clear any sidewalk as required herein and causes the City to perform the clearing in accordance with this section shall be liable to the City for the cost of such work, plus a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00), or thirty percent (30%) of such costs, whichever is greater.”

Does snow have to be cleared from the sidewalk or the street in Montana?

Which cities in the country give you the least time?

How current is this?

Sidewalk snow removal rules in every state

Montana ice damsWhat builds at the eaves while the walk is being cleared, and the conditions that put it there.Montana ground snow loadThe other winter number a city sets and the state usually does not, and who publishes it where.Montana snowpackWhat is actually on the ground this winter, measured daily, against the years behind it.Montana frozen pipesThe other thing a long cold spell does to a building, and the temperatures it starts at.

Montana read September 23, 2026: the municipal code and the city published pages of the 5 cities above. Every deadline, width, penalty and duty above links to the document it was published in and is reproduced in that document’s own wording. An hour count on this site is a sorting key derived from a city’s sentence and never a replacement for it. Councils amend ordinances on their own schedule, so the section linked beside a line is what governs on the day. What a particular property owes, and to whom, is a question for the city that published the ordinance.