Montana’s current budget

Governor Greg Gianforte released his FY 2026-2027 budget proposal in November 2024 and gave the state of the state address in January 2025. The FY 2026-2027 budget proposal was enacted in June 2025.

Montana did not enact a FY 2024-2025 supplemental budget. Montana enacted its FY 2024-2025 biennial budget in June 2023. The budget reported $3.5 billion in general fund spending for FY 2024 and $3.0 billion in general fund spending for FY 2025. In 2025, Montana passed major income and property tax cuts. Montana approved several tax cuts in 2023 and 2021.

Under the American Rescue Plan, Montana received $906 million in direct state fiscal aid and $257 million in local government aid from the federal government. As of January 2025, Montana had fully allocated its state ARP. States must spend the funds by Dec. 31, 2026.

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Montana’s total expenditures in fiscal year FY 2025 were $10.5 billion, including general funds, other state funds, bonds, and federal funds. NASBO reported that total expenditures across all states in FY 2025 were $2.9 trillion, ranging from $5.4 billion in Wyoming to $413.8 billion in California.

According to NASBO, Montana’s recent expenditure totals (general fund spending/total spending, including federal transfers) were:

• FY 2025: $1.9 billion/$10.5 billion
• FY 2024: $2.7 billion/$10.0 billion
• FY 2023: $2.6 billion/$10.5 billion
• FY 2022: $2.5 billion/$8.7 billion
• FY 2021: $2.4 billion/$11.1 billion
• FY 2020: $2.3 billion/$8.3 billion
• FY 2019: $2.3 billion/$7.2 billion

For more on Montana’s budget, see

• the Governor’s Office of Budget and Program Planning,
  
• the Montana Department of Administration,
  
• the Montana Transparency in Government Portal, and
  
• the Montana Legislative Fiscal Division.

Montana’s budget institutions, rules, and constraints

Montana uses a biennial budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget and is prohibited from carrying a deficit over into the following year. The state has no further tax and expenditure limits, and there are no debt limits on either authorized debt or debt service incurred by the state.

(Note: Some states have informal budget institutions that constrain overall spending growth or a specific expenditure’s growth.)

Overview of Montana’s state and local expenditure and revenue sources

Each state allocates spending and taxes differently among different levels of governments, and local governments often administer programs with state funds, so combined state and local government data show a more complete picture of individual benefits and contributions when comparing states.

Per the US Census Bureau, Montana’s combined state and local direct general expenditures were $11.5 billion in FY 2022 (the most recent year census data were available), or $10,250 per capita. (Census data exclude “business-like” activities such as utilities and transfers between state and local governments.) National per capita direct general expenditures were $12,083.

Montana’s largest spending areas per capita were public welfare ($2,636) and elementary and secondary education ($2,034). The Census Bureau includes most Medicaid spending in public welfare but also allocates some of it to public hospitals. Per capita spending is useful for state comparisons but is an incomplete metric because it doesn’t provide any information about a state’s demographics, policy decisions, administrative procedures, or residents’ choices.

Montana’s combined state and local general revenues were $13.4 billion in FY 2022, or $11,923 per capita. National per capita general revenues were $13,619. Montana does not levy a general sales tax. After federal transfers, Montana’s largest sources of per capita revenue were individual income taxes ($2,126) and property taxes ($1,922).

Montana’s economic trends

Montana’s per capita income (per the Bureau of Economic Analysis) was $67,615 in 2024, ranking 29th among the states. It was below both the national average of $72,425 and the Rocky Mountain regional average of $70,311. The state’s median household income (five-year estimate) was $72,509 in 2024, ranking 36th among the states and below the national average of $80,734. Montana’s poverty rate was 11.5 percent in 2024 (five-year estimate), below the national rate of 12.5 percent.

Although Montana’s averages tell a story about the entire state, Montana is composed of diverse localities. For example, the city of Great Falls’s median household income was $63,373, and its poverty rate was 14.5 percent; the city of Bozeman’s median household income was $85,747, and its poverty rate was 13.7 percent.

Montana’s unemployment rate has historically been below the national average, particularly following the Great Recession.

Unemployment rates (like other economic indicators) often vary significantly by race and ethnicity. However, Montana does not currently have enough information available for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to break down its unemployment rate by race.

The major industries that contributed the most to Montana’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 were finance, government, social services (i.e. health and education), professional services, and retail. Government and social services contributed more to Montana’s GDP than they did to the nation’s and region’s GDP, while finance and professional services were less important to Montana than they were to the nation and region in 2024.

Looking at more specific industries, among those that accounted for at least 1 percent of Montana’s GDP in 2023, farms produced far more for the state than for the nation, contributing 3.6 percent to Montana’s GDP and 0.8 percent to the nation’s. Other industries that overperformed in Montana relative to national averages in 2023 were mining, construction, petroleum and coal manufacturing, and hospitals.

Montana’s politics

Governor Greg Gianforte, a Republican, was elected in 2024 with 59 percent of the vote. The next gubernatorial election is in 2028.

Republicans control both the House of Representatives (68 Republicans to 31 Democrats) and Senate (34 Republicans to 16 Democrats). Control of the governor’s mansion and each house of the legislature gives Republicans a trifecta in Montana. All Montana House seats are on the ballot in 2026 because representatives serve two-year terms. Senators serve four-year terms; roughly half the senatorial seats are on the ballot in 2026, and the other half will be up for election in 2028.

Montana’s demographics

As of July 2024, Montana’s population was 1,137,233. That was up 14.8 percent from 2010. The state’s population growth rate was faster than than the nation’s 9.9 percent growth over the same period. The Urban Institute estimates the state’s population will increase 16.4 percent between 2010 and 2030, more than the nation’s estimated growth rate of 16 percent.

Additional resources

• The State and Local Finance Initiative’s Backgrounders explain the tax and spending issues highlighted in these briefs.
  
• The State Economic Monitor presents updated data and customized visualizations of state economic indicators.
  
• State and Local Finance Data: Exploring the Census of Governments allow users to sort, customize, and download the Census of Governments State and Local Finance series data featured in these summaries.
  
• The State Tax and Economic Review series provides quarterly reports on state tax collections and underlying economic trends in all 50 states.
  
• The Urban Institute’s State Tax Data Subscriptions provide access to up-to-date revenue data in all 50 states.