Montana Is No Longer The Place To Be: Is That Good Or Bad?

We've all heard the phrase "be careful what you wish for". Well, for the last few years, many Montana locals have wished that people would stop moving here. According to some new data, they may have.

There was a time that folks were coming to Montana in droves, with the peak being during the pandemic. I often tell the story of how my Wife and I barely could find an apartment here in Bozeman when we moved back to Montana in 2021.

Now, we have all kinds of apartments and townhouses going up and many of them will remain partly vacant. Because of this, there has been a drop in price in many of the rental properties.

Are people still moving to Montana?

They are, but no where near the pace they were the last few years. Between the cost of housing in the more popular towns and the cost of living across the entire state, folks are picking other places to call home.

The folks over at Moving Place, which keeps track of the hottest zip codes in the country, came out with their first list of 2026 and Montana is no where to be seen.

Where are people moving?

Right now, the most popular spots are in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Texas, and Tennessee. It should also be noted that a few of the places on the list are big cities like Austin, Dallas, and Nashville.

I've spent time in all three of those cities, and while I enjoy them, I certainly wouldn't want to deal with the traffic.

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So, is Montana in the clear? Or is it just a matter of time before people start flooding to Big Sky Country again? Only time will tell, but if I was a betting man, I would say prepare for another flood.