U.S. Census: Gallatin, Flathead County add most residents in Montana
The Flathead County Courthouse in Kalispell, pictured on Dec. 31, 2024. (Micah Drew, Daily Montanan)
Gallatin and Flathead were the fastest growing counties in Montana between 2023 and 2024, while the city of Kalispell has grown nearly 25% since 2020, adding more residents than any Montana city, according to the latest population growth data from the U.S. Census
The federal government last week released the latest population counts for the nation's more than 3,000 counties, as well as all incorporated cities and towns.
In Montana, 32 of the state's 56 counties saw a population increase, concentrated in the state's western counties, while the mostly eastern counties that saw population declines did so by just over a thousand cumulative residents.
As a whole, Montana added 5,931 new residents between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024, for a total state population of 1,137,233. The state's growth rate of .52% was slower than the national growth rate of 1%, partly due to a last-in-the-nation level of international migration, and far lower than in recent years. Between 2020 and 2021, Montana added a whopping 19,000 new residents.
The United States has added 3,304,757 people between 2023 and 2024.
In the last release of census data, Gallatin and Flathead counties added 1,055 and 1,032 new residents, respectively, the first time since the population boom began in 2020 Flathead County hasn't led in raw numbers. But the northwest county had a higher rate of change at .91% compared to Gallatin's .84%.
Broadwater County had the highest percentage population increase in the last year, 2.96%, and over the last four years, with 22.2%, but the county's 8,302 residents makes it just the 27th most inhabited in Montana.
Since 2020, however, Flathead County has led the state in sheer number of additional residents, adding more than 10,100 to Gallatin's just over 8,000 and Yellowstone County's 6,800.
Meanwhile, Kalispell, the county seat of the Flathead, added 1,125 new residents between 2023 and 2024 for a population of 31,296, a nearly 4% increase stemming from the city's annexation of new developments and migration into the area.
Bozeman added the second most residents, 788, followed by Billings (686), Missoula (557) and Helena (360). Of the state's most populous cities, Great Falls, Havre and Sidney all lost residents.
Kalispell's growth is even more drastic over the last four years. Between 2020 and 2024, the city added 6,218 new residents, a 24.8% increase that ranked the city 39th in the nation for growth among cities with more than 20,000 residents.
Helena, which grew by 8.2%, and Bozeman, which grew by 8.1%, ranked in the 260s.
Kalispell City Manager Doug Russell said seeing the actual numbers isn't a big surprise for the people who have been working to accommodate the rising population.
'We've experienced that large growth in person over the years,' Russel said.
Russell said that planning for increased growth is key to keeping city services and infrastructure at a level to handle the demands of a rapidly growing population.
'Our public works department has done a really great job updating facilities plans on a routine basis and updating growth models to to anticipate where we'll need to prioritize infrastructure projects,' Russel said.
Among the major infrastructure projects Kalispell has prioritized in recent years are construction of a new water tower to bolster the municipal water storage and working with the state transportation department to address potential bottlenecks along major transit corridors, such as W. Reserve Drive, along the city's north end.
Russell said the city is currently updating its land use policy, which will allow city officials to prepare for the next round of anticipated growth.
If Kalispell's growth trend continues, it could soon overtake Helena and Butte-Silver Bow in size.
Just north of Kalispell, Whitefish has also grown by nearly 20% since 2020, adding 1,481 residents, while nearby Polson and Columbia Falls have grown 9.6% and 7.4%.
Belgrade, a suburb of Bozeman, one of the state's least affordable cities, is the only other large city in Montana to exceed 20% growth, adding 2,265 residents since 2020.
On the other end of the spectrum, Montana's smallest incorporated town, Ismay, has stayed exactly the same, with 21 residents since 2020, according to Census data.
A call placed to the only publicly listed phone number in Ismay, the Ismay Community Church, did not get a response on Tuesday to verify the town's 21 residents.
Two other incorporated towns in Montana showed flat growth rates since 2020, both on the Hi-Line in Phillips County — Dodson, which increased from 126 residents to 127 in 2023, but then returned to 126 in 2024, and Malta, which has fluctuated around 1,853 residents for several years.
Nationally, of the 10 fastest growing cities in the country, six are in Texas, and one each is in Florida, Utah, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Forney, Texas, added 15,079 residents between 2020 and 2024, a 62.2% increase.
The nation's fastest shrinking city was Big Spring, Texas, which lost 14% of its population.
The U.S. Census Bureau data breaks out changes to county population by natural change — the difference due to birth rates and death rates — and net migration into and out of a county.
While Flathead and Gallatin counties each grew by roughly the same 1,000 residents between 2023 and 2024, they did so in vastly different ways.
A quarter of Gallatin County's increase was due to a younger population. The county's birth rate was 1,141 people while only 686 individuals died during the year of record.
Meanwhile Flathead, Missoula, and Yellowstone counties had almost equal numbers of births and deaths in their communities, trends that extend back to 2020.
Flathead County's primary source of growth is new residents moving to the county. Ninety-nine percent of new residents between 2020 and 2024 relocated to the area, while just three-quarters of new Gallatin County residents did.
Both on the eastern side of the state, Montana's two least populous counties, Treasure and Petroleum, with 739 and 535 residents respectively, saw the largest population percentage decline in residents.
Petroleum lost 18 residents in 2024, six from a higher death rate than birth rate, and 12 who moved out of the county. Treasure County dropped by 28 residents, gaining two from natural change, but losing 30 to relocation.
The state's largest county, Yellowstone, with 171,583 residents, is more populous than the state's 36 least inhabited combined.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Home repair program, emergency rental assistance could get city rental license money
The Frederick City Council will consider a plan for spending almost half of an estimated $1 million in revenue from rental licenses — none of which has been spent since the licenses were required in 2024. The proposal includes money for constructing two affordable housing buildings with shared amenities for up to 20 people. A housing repair program operated by Habitat For Humanity and rental assistance through local nonprofit Beyond Shelter are also being considered. The ordinance requiring the licenses was passed in 2022, but licenses were not required until Jan. 1, 2024. Licenses cost $240 per unit for a two-year period, according to the city website. It also mandated that landlords adhere to city health and safety standards for rental units. The council created the ordinance with the intent of using the funds raised from the licenses to create and maintain affordable housing, as well as to help city residents with rent. In the city's last fiscal year — the first fiscal year it levied the rental licensing fee — it raised over $500,000 from the ordinance. However, it has not spent any of the funds raised from the ordinance. The city estimates it will have raised over $1 million from the ordinance by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Rental Licensing Funds proposal A proposal to spend just under $500,000 of the revenue generated by the city's rental licensing program. Around $260,000 would go to local nonprofit Beyond Shelter's emergency rental assistance and rehousing support programs households at risk of eviction or facing homelessness, $150,000 for Habitat For Humanity of Frederick County's home repair program for county residents to repair their homes and $80,000 to subsidize the development of 12 affordable housing units, which could house 20 people. Now, the mayor's office has a proposal that calls for: * $260,000 for local nonprofit Beyond Shelter, which provides emergency rental assistance and rehousing support for households at risk of eviction or facing homelessness. * $150,000 for Habitat For Humanity of Frederick County's home repair program, which provides funds for county residents to repair their homes if they demonstrate need and have an income below 80% of the area median income. The median income was around $120,000 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census. * $80,000 to subsidize the development of 12 co-living affordable housing units housing up to 20 people, built by JR Capital Build, which has an office in Frederick. The monthly rent of the units would be $950 to $1,075 including utilities, according to city documents. Co-living refers to people living in the same space and sharing some of the amenities. The proposal, set to go before the City Council Housing Health and Education Committee on Thursday, also gives other options for how to spend the money. The city could create its own rental assistance or home purchase assistance programs, city documents outline. However, this would require significant additional time and effort from city employees, according to the city document containing the proposal. Another option is to fund a different developer — Gaithersberg-based M.E.P. Solutions Group — to build a $155,000 proof-of-concept accessory dwelling unit with a shipping container. Accessory dwelling units are smaller living units on the same property as a home, according to the city website. The city said M.E.P. Solutions' proposal calls for a test unit to be built in Monrovia. It does not specify the rent it would charge. 'Given these uncertainties and challenges — particularly limited direct impact on affordable housing within the City and the uncertain scalability of the project — staff recommend against utilizing the housing conservation fund for this proposal.' The ordinance originally called for the rental licensing revenue to be split three ways — 20% for rental assistance, 30% to cover costs associated with tenant relocation necessitated by the enforcement of the ordinance, and 50% for affordable housing. Recently the council changed the ordinance to expand the usage of the rental assistance fund and fold the tenant protection portion into the rental assistance fund. This means 50% of the funds raised by the ordinance can be used for rental assistance and to help tenants in the event of a forced relocation due to enforcement of the ordinance. The guidelines for how the money could be spent were supposed to be finished by July 1, 2023, according to the original ordinance language.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
The prescription for discord? Discourse.
Former Montana lawmaker Dorothy Bradley and former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot embrace at a rally to stop the dozens of constitutional amendment proposals made in the 2023 legislative sessions. Both were keynote speakers at the Feb. 1, 2023, event. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan) On June 22, at the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Todd Wilkinson, the editor of Yellowstonian, a publication focused on the environmental issues in the Greater Yellowstone, hosted and moderated a discussion between two old political rivals. In 1992, Republican Marc Racicot and Dorothy Bradley campaigned all over the state, conducting more than 20 joint town halls, where they debated the issues of the day. Racicot won in a very close race, and went on to become one of the most popular governors in Montana, up until he made a fateful decision concerning the deregulation of utilities, a piece of legislation that had a long-term impact and has led many Montanans to never forgive him. But it's hard to overlook the fact that Racicot is a man who reflects on these things in a way that is not typical of most politicians, especially from his party. When Racicot endorsed Monica Tranel during the 2022 congressional race, the state Republican party decided to censure him, a particularly confounding decision considering that Racicot was, at one time, the chairman of the Republican National Committee after his term as governor. He also managed George Bush's campaign during the 2004 presidential race. But Racicot never classified himself as a full-on conservative, and he and Bradley both highlighted the fact that during their campaign against each other, they were able to maintain a strong feeling of respect and civility despite their differences. This was one of many issues they pointed to that are contributing to the current political situation. Another was the influx of money, and Bradley pointed out that the maximum donation during their campaign was $35 and they were meticulous about following that. But one of the most striking revelations during the evening for me was when someone asked Racicot whether any of the current Republican leadership in Montana ever reaches out to him for advice. 'They don't even return my calls,' Racicot answered. And although it wasn't exactly a surprise, I still found myself kind of amazed that these people would completely dismiss the years of experience of someone like Racicot. It's not hard to imagine that the same holds true for most of the other former office-holders in our state—people like former governors Brian Schweitzer and Steve Bullock, or former congressman Pat Williams, and especially Jon Tester. It's obviously a product of our current political culture, which values winning over all else, that would produce the kind of arrogance that completely dismisses an entire sector of our population without a thought. But how shortsighted is it to believe that only you and those who think like you have all the answers you need? Or, that asking for advice or feedback is some kind of weakness? People can say that Donald Trump is to blame, but this started way before he descended that golden escalator, back when Newt Gingrich and his cadre of icy collaborators decided that winning at all costs was way more important than worrying about what is important to the voters. This attitude has slowly poisoned the Republican party to the point where they feel completely justified in disowning one of the people who was considered a shining star. And the most maddening part about it is how gleefully and smugly they continue down this path. It's not hard to imagine why. Because so far, it's working. Because of Project 2025, they are no longer relying on Trump to drive the train, and it puts him in the perfect position as someone who just has to keep yelling 'All aboard' and blowing his own horn. He doesn't even have to worry about steering. So where does that leave us? I think Bradley said it best when she pointed out that we are all responsible for where we are, and that we are also responsible for figuring out what to do next. 'Trump is eventually going away,' she pointed out. 'And it's hard to imagine anyone else in his circle having the same sway over the public. So we have to figure out how to proceed once he's gone, and how to repair the damage he's done.' The same holds true for our state. Greg Gianforte is serving his last term, and there's no question that people are becoming disillusioned by the lack of access to our political leaders. Our current office-holders have made it their policy to avoid as much contact with the public as possible, and it's not hard to imagine why. Each time they do that, someone tries to hold them accountable for the many decisions they've made that have done untold damage to the citizens of Montana, with the most outrageous being the (still unexplained) increase in property taxes. Todd Wilkinson and I are starting a new podcast soon, affiliated with Yellowstonian, and one of our first episodes is going to be a discussion about this conversation between Bradley and Racicot. But as a brief preview, I can tell you that most of the solutions they offered were ones we've heard before, and that we will certainly hear again. We need to continue to speak up, gather, make our voices heard, and of course vote. But it was nice to see people with different views coming together to discuss how we got here. And I suspect we will see more of that.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
A moral moment for Montana: Medicaid cuts considered in the U.S. Senate
Rally attendees hold signs at a rally in support of reauthorizing Medicaid expansion at the Montana State Capitol on Jan. 15, 2025. (Micah Drew/Daily Montanan) Last week, by a single vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.' This is sweeping reconciliation bill that promises to reshape the American social safety net. At the heart of this legislation are more than $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid, a program that serves as a lifeline for tens of thousands of Montanans with disabilities. Medicaid pays for some of the most basic services many people with disabilities need to get by each day, like the basic personal care supports someone with a physical disability may need to get out of bed in the morning, the more intensive skill training and safety supervision someone with an intellectual disability may need to learn to live more independently, and it pays for medication to maintain a person's mental health and more intensive community supports when they have mental health emergency. For Montanans with disabilities, this bill is not just a policy shift – it's a direct threat to our lives. The bill imposes new administrative hurdles, including requiring Medicaid recipients to reverify their eligibility twice a year. For people with disabilities – many of whom already navigate complex bureaucracies – this change increases the risk of losing coverage due to paperwork errors or missed deadlines. Here in Montana, we know this isn't a mere possibility, it was our reality. In 2023 and 2024, Montana required Medicaid recipients to submit paperwork to verify their continued eligibility. When Montanans tried to follow the rules to verify their eligibility, they found the state's phone lines were left unanswered and many people were kicked off for administrative reasons without ever looking at their clinical need. Though the bill includes exemptions, these are often poorly implemented. In practice, people are misclassified, denied exemptions, or fall through the cracks due to inaccessible systems. People with legitimate disabilities are stripped of their health care and there is a big administrative burden on the individual and the state eligibility system to sort through wrongful denials and terminations. When Arkansas implemented work requirements in 2018 similar to the work requirements in the new federal reconciliation bill, more than 18,000 people lost coverage, many of them wrongfully, and there was no meaningful impact on employment. At Disability Rights Montana, we have been here for 50 years serving the disability community and we hear from people every day who rely on Medicaid to live independently, to work, to go to school, and to participate in their communities. These are veterans with PTSD, children with autism, adults with spinal cord injuries, and seniors with dementia. Defunding disability services is a major step backwards in history to a time when people with disabilities were excluded from society and warehoused in poor institutional conditions. This bill sends a clear message to people with disabilities that their lives are not as valuable as tax cuts for the rich. Even if you don't have a disability or don't use Medicaid, you will feel the cuts. It is well known in health care circles that even Montanans who don't rely on Medicaid for their insurance coverage will feel the effects of this bill, especially in rural communities. For example, this year the state legislature heard from hospital administrators and healthcare providers who explained the impact Medicaid expansion has had on our state. It has allowed rural hospitals to add or expand specialty services like orthopedic surgery and mental health care. Without this funding, these services may disappear and that will affect all patients, not just those who are covered by Medicaid. Hospitals and other health care providers serve the rich and poor alike. When the money for poor people goes away, so do the therapists, nurses, and doctors that money paid for. If you lose funding to cover portions of health care professionals' salaries, those positions go away completely because you can't hire 60% of a doctor in a rural hospital. The bill is now before the Senate. Given the slim political margins there, Sens. Daines and Sheehy could cast deciding votes. Budgets are moral documents. Just a couple months ago, the state legislature decided the moral choice was to maintain a robust Medicaid program for Montana. Now Senators Daines and Sheehy must answer the same moral question. What will they do?
