You Won’t Believe How Uncrowded Montana Really Is

When it is the height of tourist season in Montana it can seem like there are people everywhere.  

The roads are more crowded with RVs and cars with out-of-state plates. The airports have longer lines for dropping off and picking up guests. It’s a busy time. 

Montana, of course, is home to two of the most popular national parks in the country. With so much to offer, it’s no surprise people want to visit Montana.  

Montana’s Tourism Industry at a Glance

Montana’s tourism is one of our biggest industries, bringing in $5.8 billion and helping to support over 66,000 jobs, according to Tourism Matters to Montana. 

READ MORE: What Montanans Really Want Tourists to Know Before Visiting

When it comes to how crowded Montana becomes with tourists, you may be surprised to find out we don’t get as many as you might think, at least according to the percentage of the population.  

How Montana Compares to Neighboring States

According to Go2Africa.com, Montana is towards the bottom when it comes to the tourist-to-resident ratio. According to their numbers, Montana ranks lower than all of our neighbors. Montana sees 12 visitors for every resident.  

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North Dakota has one of the highest ratios with over 32 visitors per resident. South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho all get more visitors per resident than Montana.  

The state that gets the most crowded is West Virginia. They got 75 million visitors, compared with just 1.77 million residents. That's more than 42 visitors for every resident. Texas ranks the lowest with only 2 visitors for every resident. 

Montana is big enough that you can easily get away from a lot of the tourists if you want to.