Is the Great Migration to Montana Finally Slowing Down?

I recently read an article on where Americans are migrating to, and Montana wasn’t included in the article’s Top 10.

Does that mean we may be able to remove the “Montana is Full” signs?

The States That Are Attracting People (and Not Montana)

Newsweek recently published an article on where Americans are moving. The article reviewed current migration data as well as population data. The data shows that many of the fastest-growing states in the US are located in the South and parts of the Mountain West, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee.

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However, there is one state missing from the article’s top 11...That state is Montana.

1. South Carolina (+1.46 percent)
2. Idaho (+1.44 percent)
3. North Carolina (+1.32 percent)
4. Texas (+1.25 percent)
5. Utah (+1.03 percent)
6. Delaware (+0.94 percent)
7. Washington (+0.92 percent)
8. Arizona (+0.89 percent)
9. Nevada (+0.88 percent)
10. Tennessee (+0.88 percent)
11. Georgia (+0.88 percent)

Since 2020, I’ve felt like Montana has experienced an enormous amount of change. And now being left out of the list of 11 is almost refreshing.

Montana Wasn’t Always Overrun by Newcomers

Many people still believe that moving to Montana is nothing new. We’ve debated about how many out-of-state residents should live in Montana since before Kevin Costner ever put on his cowboy hat.

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In fact, the difference between then and now is how quickly things happened. With remote work, people could leave big cities and bring their jobs along. Why wouldn’t people want to move to a place with beautiful mountains, rivers, public land, smaller communities and endless space?

Unfortunately, it seems like everyone decided that all at once.

Housing prices went through the roof. Finding rentals became harder than normal. Traffic got ridiculous. Smaller towns began to change. Many longtime Montanans were left wondering if they could afford to stay in the area where they grew up.

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Of course, it wasn’t all the newcomers causing these changes. There have been many newcomers who have become wonderful neighbors and added value to their local communities.

It was how fast the growth happened that made it hard to adjust to.

Does Montana’s Growth Slow Down?

Don’t get too excited just yet!

Just because one set of data indicates that people don’t seem to be moving to Montana as much as they used to doesn’t necessarily mean that people have lost interest in the state. Population figures involve more than someone packing a U-Haul and crossing into Montana.

Mario Tama, Getty Images

But Montana not making it onto another national "where Americans are moving" list is significant enough for me to write about it.

Maybe some of the excitement surrounding Montana has worn off. Maybe housing prices scare potential movers away. Or perhaps America’s eyes are elsewhere. Regardless of the reason, after the last six years, I’m happy to enjoy a little less stress.