Montana Is Falling Off Some Popular Lists, Are You Relieved?

We've seen our state at or near the top of all kinds of lists over the last few years. Most popular National Parks, number of people moving here--we've been getting a lot of attention. But it seems Montana's popularity may be turning a corner.

A few lists just came out with data from 2023 and predictions for 2024 and interestingly, Montana is nowhere to be seen or is hard to find.

The Hottest Housing Markets of 2024

The real estate website Zillow is predicting which cities will see the most interest in 2024 and for the first time in a while, it's looking like Montana is not on the list.

Their list is interesting because none of the housing markets they identify are in the western half of the United States. The #1 city? Buffalo, New York. Other cities predicted are in states like Ohio, Indiana, Rhode Island, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. Nothing west of the Mississippi River.

Where People Are Moving

Another indicator that Montana is falling off some popular lists is the data coming out from moving companies. We already saw that according to one moving company, more people moved out of Montana than into it last year. Now, USA Today is reporting on the places where people moved most--and Montana was not at the top of the list.

Using U-Haul's Growth Index Report, they shared that Texas and Florida were #1 and #2, and Montana isn't anywhere in the top 15. Montana ends up around the middle at #21. Montana's growth ranking in 2022 was at #18.

Read More: Montanans May Need to Buy Different Refrigerators in 2024

America's Cities With Active Lifestyles

In the past, Montana cities have regularly appeared on lists like "Places Where People Are Fit," but WalletHub just released its list of "best cities for an active lifestyle" and there aren't any Montana cities on this list.

The study looked at things like whether or not people paid for a gym membership or how many sports courts were available, but also considered factors like how walkable a city was.

Then again, if it measured things like, "miles walked while hunting" Montana might have made the list.