Looking To Move To Montana? The Pros & Cons Of Big Sky Country

There are a TON of great reasons to move Montana, but there are some stark realities as well.  Back about a year ago, I was kicked off a "Move to Montana" site that was run by realtors because I was being honest.  I found a GREAT article on Honest Pros and Cons that was pretty honest, and I thought I'd share it with you.

The Pros of Living In Montana

• Education:  There are some highly respected colleges in Montana like University of Montana and Montana State University.  Along with the colleges, Montana has great grade schools and high schools throughout the state.  Check here to see where you're moving ranks in Montana for education.
• The Cost of Living:  In Montana it's 6.29% lower than the rest of America.  That being said, so are the wages.  The average wage in Montana is $34,423.
• Job Market:  Montana's unemployment rate is generally way lower than the national average.  At the time of writing, it's a very tight labor market, there are a lot more jobs than workers.
• Low Population:  The entire state has a population of around one million.  Way less than most major cities in the world.  You can find solitude if you want it, when you need to be around people, just go to town.
• A lot of Outdoor Activities:  You can work outside, you can play outside.  Montana is filled with a love for the outdoors and it translates into most everything.
• Friendly, welcoming people.  In general, I'll say that's true.  However, as of late, I'm seeing Montanans become a bit aggressive toward folks that want to move here.  I'm hoping this will fade away.  Sadly, it seems to be getting worse.
• Good Neighbors.  Again, I mostly agree with that.  Generally, a Montanan will help someone out whenever they can, and a lot of time you don't even have to ask.
• No Real Traffic.  In most towns, that's true.  The last time I lived in Billings though, I realized that for a Montana city, the traffic (rush hours) was getting kind of brutal.  Not as compared to say, Seattle.  I mean brutal as compared to somewhere else in Montana.

The Cons of Living in Montana:

• Winter.  Winter is long, cold and hard.  If you're cold when the weather is in the upper 50's/lower 60's, Montana just isn't for you.  There are times when the weather can get down to around 50 degrees below zero.  This isn't just a myth, it's true.
• Housing.  Montana is in the midst of a housing crisis.  It used to be easy to get an affordable rental or find a home to buy.  Those days are over.  They abruptly ended when the pandemic started.  No matter what anyone wants to tell you, know that you could look for MONTHS for a place to live.
• Tourists.  I wish I could say it's just a couple of months of the year, truth is tourists come here year round.  For some reason, Montana is very "cool" right now, so it's crazier than ever.
• Not Much Public Transportation.  The bigger towns have public transportation and Uber and cabs and such.  However, I can not stress this enough, if you want to live here, you NEED a vehicle.  This is NOT someplace that you can go your whole life without a vehicle.
• Not A Lot Of Services That are Provided in More Populated Areas:  No, Montana is not full of all the conveniences that you're used to.  We don't have as many big concerts, we don't have all the stores and restaurants, and we like it that way.  If you're moving here, don't complain about it all the time.