BILLINGS — Population growth in Montana's urban areas has showed no signs of slowdown in recent years, according to the latest U.S. Census figures.

The state's population increased from 902,195 in 2000 to an estimated 944,632 in 2006.

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Of that increase of 42,000 people, 38,000 lived in the seven "urban counties" — Yellowstone, Missoula, Gallatin, Flathead, Cascade, Lewis and Clark, and Silver Bow.

"It's a different kind of urbanization process than we've talked about in the past in other parts of the country," he said.

Lora Mattox, a neighborhood planner with the City-County Planning Department in Yellowstone County, said she and her colleagues were puzzled by the population estimates released by the Census Bureau in late March.

According to the data, Yellowstone County's population had grown only 6.9 percent between 2000 and July 1, 2006, for an annual growth rate of just over 1.1 percent.

For years, planners have estimated Billings' growth rate at 2 percent a year, or slightly more than that, Mattox said.

They searched the state Department of Commerce Web site and found a map that seemed to explain the discrepancy. The map showed the fastest-growing counties in Montana from 2000 to 2005, and it showed how fast incorporated areas in each county were growing compared with unincorporated areas.

In Yellowstone County, the map showed a growth rate of 9 percent in incorporated areas, paired with a 5 percent decline in unincorporated areas.

Part of that can be attributed to annexations in recent years, with the city of Billings expanding to take in already established residential areas or subdivisions that have grown rapidly since being annexed.

The population figures for incorporated and unincorporated areas were even more lopsided in other counties.

In Flathead County, incorporated areas saw a growth rate of 31 percent from 2000 to 2005, compared with 3 percent in unincorporated areas; while in Gallatin County, the ratio was 20 percent to 9 percent, and in Ravalli County 19 percent to 9 percent.

Missoula County was similar to Yellowstone, with 9 percent growth in incorporated areas and a decline of 4 percent in unincorporated areas.

Swanson said one obvious reason for the differences was that county boundaries don't change, but cities keep expanding.

People want to live near mountains, rivers and other natural attractions but still have the benefits of urban living — mainly sewer and water service.

The trend should become even more pronounced in coming years because the average age is steadily increasing in Montana, and older people tend to live closer to health care and other services that are concentrated in urban areas, Swanson said.

Whether you look at the growth rate of the county as a whole or just the city of Billings, this area continues to have a steady, manageable increase in population, Mattox said. Swanson agreed, saying Yellowstone County's growth rate of 1.1 percent is "pretty healthy."

By contrast, Gallatin County, which is the fastest-growing county in the state, has seen a growth rate of more than 3 percent a year since 2002.

That kind of growth "is almost incapacitating for planners," Swanson said.

Originally published April 10, 2007

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