Idaho vs Montana: two economies side by side

Idaho and Montana share a border. Here are the two economies on the same measures, with the rank of each among 51 states and DC.

Rocky MountainIdaho leads on 5, Montana on 6 of 11 measures

Indicator	A · ID	B · MT	Ranks
GDP, 2025	$137.4B	$80.9B	39 · 48
Real GDP growth, 2025	+3.1%	+2.0%	6 · 24
Real growth a year since 2015	+4.3%	+2.5%	2 · 17
GDP per person	$67,695	$70,713	46 · 43
Income per person, 2025	$64,200	$72,066	43 · 27
Real income per person (2017 $)	$52,816	$59,203	44 · 20
Price level (US = 100)	95.5	94.6	29 · 30
Housing costs (US = 100)	90.0	84.6	24 · 28
Unemployment, September 2026	3.6%	3.1%	20 · 8
Population	2,029,733	1,144,694	37 · 43
Population growth a year since 2020	+1.9%	+1.0%	1 · 13

Highlighted: the higher value, or the lower one for prices and unemployment. BEA (GDP, income, price parities), BLS (unemployment).

Fig. 1Real GDP, index 2015 = 100Chained 2017 dollars

IdahoMontana

Fig. 2Unemployment rateMonthly, seasonally adjusted, since 2015

IdahoMontana

Industry mix, 2025

Share of each state’s GDP. Sorted by the gap between the two.

Industry	ID	MT	Gap, pp	Larger in
Manufacturing	9.7%	5.0%	4.7	ID
Government	10.4%	12.4%	2.1	MT
Accommodation & food	3.1%	4.6%	1.5	MT
Mining, oil & gas	1.4%	2.9%	1.4	MT
Health care	8.6%	9.8%	1.2	MT
Wholesale trade	6.9%	5.7%	1.2	ID
Transportation & warehousing	2.8%	3.9%	1.1	MT
Agriculture	3.9%	3.1%	0.9	ID
Management of companies	1.3%	0.4%	0.8	ID
Administrative & waste services	3.4%	2.6%	0.8	ID
Retail trade	7.8%	7.1%	0.6	ID
Information	2.5%	3.1%	0.6	MT
Finance & insurance	5.4%	6.0%	0.6	MT
Utilities	1.5%	1.9%	0.5	MT
Arts & recreation	0.8%	1.3%	0.5	MT
Other services	1.9%	2.2%	0.3	MT
Construction	6.6%	6.3%	0.3	ID
Education	0.8%	0.5%	0.3	ID
Real estate	14.8%	14.6%	0.2	ID
Professional services	6.4%	6.5%	0.1	MT