FHA Loans in Montana
About This State and its People, Places, and Industries
Montana is a U.S. state located in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other island ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name, derived from the Spanish word montaña (mountain).Montana has several nicknames, none official, including: "The Treasure State" and "Big Sky Country," and slogans that include "Land of the Shining Mountains," and more recently, "The Last Best Place." The state ranks fourth in area, but 44th in population, and therefore has the third lowest population density in the United States. The economy is primarily based on ranching, wheat farming, oil and coal in the east; lumber, tourism, and hard rock mining in the west. Millions of tourists annually visit Glacier National Park, the Battle of Little Bighorn site, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park. Montana is bordered by the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan on the north, Idaho on the west, Wyoming on the south and North Dakota and South Dakota on the east.
Montana ranks 44th in population; only six states (Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Vermont and Delaware) have fewer people. As of 2009, Montana has an estimated population of 974,989, slightly less than either Rhode Island or Hawaii, which is an increase of 72,799, or 8.1%, since the year 2000 and a 22% increase since 1990. Growth is mainly concentrated in Montana's seven largest counties, with the heaviest growth in Bozeman's Gallatin County, which saw a 78% increase in its population since 1990.
According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the population of the most populous metropolitan/micropolitan areas are:
1. Billings 152,005
2. Missoula 107,320
3. Bozeman 89,824
4. Kalispell 88,473
5. Great Falls 82,026
6. Helena 72,180
7. Butte 32,803
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 94.8% of the population aged 5 and older speak English at home.
The center of population of Montana is located in Meagher County, in the city of White Sulphur Springs.
While German ancestry is the largest reported European-American ancestry in Montana as a whole, residents of Scandinavian ancestry are prevalent in some of the farming-dominated northern and eastern prairie regions, parallel to nearby regions of North Dakota and Minnesota. Irish and English are the second and third largest European ancestral groups in the state. There are also several predominantly Native American counties, mainly around each of the seven Indian reservations. The state has a larger Native American population (and percentage) than most US states. The seven reservations are actually made of more than twelve distinct Native American ethnolinguistic groups. The historically mining-oriented communities of western Montana such as Butte have a wider range of ethnic groups, and are particularly rich in European-American ethnicity; Finns, Eastern Europeans and especially Irish settlers left an indelible mark on the city, and still make up a very large part of the population. This historic mining area of Montana was also settled by many originally from British mining regions such as Cornwall, Devon, and Wales. The nearby city of Helena, also founded on mining, had a small China Town for decades, and the Chinese in Montana, while a low percentage today, have historically been an important presence. Montana is second only to South Dakota in U.S. Hutterite population with several colonies spread across the state. Many of Montana's historic logging communities originally attracted people of Scottish, Scandinavian, Slavic, English and Scots-Irish descent. Montana's Hispanic population is particularly concentrated around the Billings area in south-central Montana, and the highest density of African-Americans is located in Great Falls. Many of Montana's Mexican-Americans have been in the state for generations.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Montana's total state product in 2003 was $26 billion. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $25,406, 47th in the nation. However, this number is rapidly increasing. According to the Missoulian, the economy has grown rapidly since 2003; in 2005, Montana ranked 39th in the nation with an average per capita personal income of $29,387.
The economy is primarily based on agriculture, and major crops include wheat, barley, sugar beets, oats, rye, seed potatoes, honey, cherries, and cattle and sheep ranching. Montana is also a relative hub of beer micro brewing, ranking third in the nation in number of craft breweries per capita. There are significant industries for lumber and mineral extraction; the state's resources include gold, coal, silver, talc, and vermiculite. Ecotaxes on resource extraction are numerous. A 1974 state severance tax on coal (which varied from 20 to 30 percent) was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana, 453 U.S. 609 (1981).
Tourism is also important to the economy with millions of visitors a year to Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, the Missouri River headwaters, the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park.
Montana's personal income tax contains 7 brackets, with rates ranging from 1% to 6.9%. Montana has no sales tax. In Montana, household goods are exempt from property taxes. However, property taxes are assessed on livestock, farm machinery, heavy equipment, automobiles, trucks, and business equipment. The amount of property tax owed is not determined solely by the property's value. The property's value is multiplied by a tax rate, set by the Montana Legislature, to determine its taxable value. The taxable value is then multiplied by the mill levy established by various taxing jurisdictions – city and county government, school districts and others. As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 6.8%.
Choose Your City >>>
- Anaconda
- Belgrade
- Belt
- Big Timber
- Billings
- Bozeman
- Butte
- Choteau
- Clancy
- Clyde Park
- Columbia Falls
- Conrad
- Corvallis
- Dillon
- Emigrant
- Eureka
- Florence
- Glendive
- Great Falls
- Hamilton
- Havre
- Helena
- Highwood
- Hungry Horse
- Jefferson City
- Joliet
- Kalispell
- Lewistown
- Libby
- Livingston
- Lolo
- Miles City
- Missoula
- Plentywood
- Polson
- Red Lodge
- Ronan
- Stevensville
- Thompson Falls
- Victor
- Virginia City
- Whitefish
- Whitehall
- Wolf Point
