Montana Named #2 For Best Economy In U.S. State Report

The financial website WalletHub sent me an email with the subject line "2025's Best States to Live in - WalletHub Study."

My first thought was, "Oh boy. This should be good. I can't wait to write about this and read all the responses."

WalletHub Names Montana As 15th Best State To Live

Montana was named the 15th best state to live in America. It's not necessarily a flashy place to finish, but it's far from the bottom.

READ MORE: Only 3 of America's Best Fried Chicken Spots Are In Missoula

The study broke it down into 5 subcategories - Affordability, Economy, Education & Health, Quality of Life, and Safety.

Montana didn't rank that high in most of those subcategories except for one...

Montana Ranks #2 in Best Economy

The subcategory that caught my eye was "Economy." Montana ranked 2nd, behind only Vermont, in the best economies.

Economy looked at several metrics such as Unemployment Rate, Share of Population Living in Poverty, Median Debt, Income Growth, Wealth Gap, and more.

Montana was deemed the best economy after adding all those metrics together.

WalletHub's full methodology with sources can be found here. 

Best States to Live

Massachusetts was named the top state in America to live, and was deemed the 9th best Economy.

Our neighbors to the West, Idaho, were named the 2nd best state to live followed by New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

READ MORE: Montana Band Performs At The Grand Ole Opry For First Time Ever

Worst States to Live

It was a tough look for New Mexico, the worst place to live according to WalletHub. Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alaska round out the bottom 5.