Montana's population growth is mostly in Western Counties.

• Author: Sylvester, James T.
• Position: Statistical data

Montana's 2010 population of 989,415 shows an increase of 9.7 percent since 2000, bringing an addition of just more than 87,000 people to the state. Most of the growth occurred in the western part of the state, according to the latest Census data. The 2010 Census data have been released in stages, with the most recent release in June 2011.

Between 2000 and 2010, half of Montana's counties lost population and half gained population. Although Custer and Petroleum counties had positive growth, growth was near zero, with additions of only three people in Custer County and one in Petroleum County. Figure 1 shows how the growth and declines were distributed. Table 1 shows the Census numbers.

Nearly all the western counties experienced population growth between 2000 and 2010. The only exceptions were Powell, Anaconda-Deer Lodge, and Butte-Silver Bow counties. Park County was an exception on population growth for the southern counties, although the decline was only -0.4 percent or 58 people. The eastern counties, with the exception of Custer, Fallon, Petroleum, Musselshell and Richland, declined in population between 2000 and 2010. The increases in all these counties were less than 1 percent. Fallon, Musselshell, and Richland County are all experiencing growth in energy development.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

The fastest-growing county in Montana between 2000 and 2010 was Gallatin County (32 percent), followed by Broadwater County (28 percent) and Flathead County (22 percent). Gallatin County draws new residents with its university and outdoor recreation; Broadwater County has added a dimension as a bedroom community for Helena; and Flathead County draws people with its amenities and proximity to Glacier National Park, though the current economy is not conducive to further growth. The two most populous Montana counties, Yellowstone and Missoula, grew about 14 percent. Sheridan County declined the most, almost 18 percent.

The different rates of population growth resulted in some changes in how the counties ranked in population. Cascade County dropped two places to the fifth most populous. Flathead is now ranked third and Gallatin fourth. Two counties gained three places in rank: Broadwater County from 37th to 34th and Madison County from 27th to 24th.

Population growth over the next ten years depends on how Montana's economy fares compared to other states. If Montana's economy stays dormant and other nearby states recover, Montana can expect slow growth. If...