What Montana City Will Be The Largest In 20 Years?

Over the last few years, Montana has been one of, if not THE fastest growing state in America.

For better or worse Montana's population is only going to continue to grow in the next couple of decades, leading experts to speculate on what city will be the largest by 2040.

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What Is Montana's Largest City Today?

The largest city right now in Montana is the "Magic City" city itself, Billings.

As of the 2020 census, the population in Billings stood at 117,026, while World Population Review estimates their 2023 population at 118,288.

Will that population growth continue to allow Billings to be the largest city in Montana or will another fast growing city over take it?

READ NEXT: Surprise City (Not Bozeman) Is The Fastest Growing In Montana

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Montana's Largest City In 2040

When it comes to population growth and looking into the future, A-Z Animals predicts that Billings will keep their spot as the number one largest city in Montana.

It's not hard to see why when considering that Missoula, Montana's second largest city, currently has a population of 76,599.

That's just over 41,000 more people living in Billings, which would make it hard for Missoula to catch up.

What About Montana's Other Most Populous Cities?

I don't think we'll see a lot of changes when it comes to size and rank of Montana's other "big" cities, but I will make the following predictions.

I think Bozeman will over take Great Falls to become Montana's 3rd largest city.

Helena will over take Butte to become the 5th largest, and it's possible Kalispell does as well. Honestly if Kalispell's growth continues at it's current pace it could even overtake Helena.

So here's how I think the ranking will look in 2040.

  1. Billings
  2. Missoula
  3. Bozeman
  4. Great Falls
  5. Helena
  6. Kalispell
  7. Butte

What do you think, am I right or wrong? Let me know through our App or email me your predictions.

We've talked about Montana's growing population, but what about people leaving Montana, where are they going? See now in the gallery below. 👇

LOOK: Where people in Montana are moving to most

Stacker compiled a list of states where people from Montana are moving to the most using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

KEEP READING: Cities with the most expensive homes in Montana

Stacker compiled a list of cities with the most expensive homes in Montana using data from Zillow.