Montana Has Seen More ‘Middle-Class’ Growth Than Other States

With the political season in full swing across the country including in Montana you may hear more about extremes. The messaging seems to focus on the wealthy or the poor. You don't hear a lot about the middle-class. Montana has seen a significant increase in what could be categorized as middle-class people moving to our state.

According to HireAHelper.com, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Montana ranks 6th on the list of states that have seen the biggest increase in middle-class people moving to the state in 2023. The big question, what is considered middle-class?

I spoke with Miranda Marquit who is a consumer advocate for HireAHelper.com about the findings. I was curious about their findings and what they consider middle-class, this is how they defined it.

We look at that as the people that are between the people in the bottom 20% that make $30,000 or less and the people in the top 20% that make $150,000 or more a year. So everybody else in between that, so between $30,000 and $150,000 a year, that's where we put the middle 60% of earners. So that's a pretty wide range honestly. 

Montana saw an growth rate of 49% of middle-class people moving to the state in 2023. The number one state that saw the most middle-class people move there was Connecticut, followed by Delaware, South Carolina, Florida, and Maine. When it comes to the top 20% earners, most of them moved to Vermont. The largest population of lowest earners, the bottom 20%, moved to Oklahoma.

According to Miranda, the biggest reason middle-class people moved was housing.

One of the big reasons that people move is because they want new or better housing, or they're looking for cheaper housing... Especially middle earners. They're trying to find a place where they can afford the housing...I mean, they're definitely expensive places in Montana, like Bozeman. But there are places in Montana where you can still get a home for under $300,000 and then you're in Montana and it's beautiful and you've got Big Sky Country. So I think a lot of people are making those moves to get that lifestyle. If you are in a middle income range and you're somebody who has a remote friendly job, being able to move like to a place like Montana where you can have that lifestyle you want where you can maybe still find a home that is affordable that makes a lot of sense. 

The numbers are not yet available for 2024, so it will be interesting to see if Montana will continue to see an increase in middle-class workers move to the state.