The local economy of Montana and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
3.2%
August 2026, 3.4% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,229
Q1 2026, 506,648 jobs
New homes permitted
5,457
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
+5,264
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Montana, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Montana is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Montana was 3.2% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 3.4% a year earlier. 556,375 people were employed out of a labor force of 574,642. Among its counties, Carter County had the lowest rate (1.4%) and Big Horn County the highest (6.2%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Montana was $1,229 in Q1 2026, up 3.5% from a year earlier, across 506,648 jobs at 63,172 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 634 new homes in Montana in August 2026 (275 single-family and 328 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 3,752, up 7.8% from the same months last year, and 5,457 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Gallatin County (1,489), Yellowstone County (999), Flathead County (858) over the last 12 months.
Yes. From 2022 to 2023, 35,634 people moved to Montana and 30,370 moved away, a net gain of 5,264 (+5.9 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from California, Washington, Colorado, and most people who left went to Washington, California, Arizona.
The weekly survey does not publish a separate price for Montana. In its region, Rocky Mountain, regular gasoline averaged $4.49 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.