Report: Montana’s Manufacturing Industry Creates over $2B in Wages

Montana’s manufacturing sector produced over $2 billion in wage earnings for Montanans last year, according to a new report.

Montana State University and the University of Montana recently released a report that examined the state’s manufacturing industry.

Last year, the report showed that manufacturing wages accounted for 18 percent of Montana’s economy, ranking second only to hospitality at 22 percent. Hospitality became the state’s biggest industry in 2023, the report noted.

Paddy Fleming, the director of the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center, said last week that “manufacturing continues to be a strong and resilient sector of the Montana economy.”

The Montana manufacturing industry’s GDP has grown 7 percent faster than the national average since early 2020, the report found.

Manufacturing establishments in Montana increased from 1,403 in 2014 to 1,883 in 2024, the report said. However, 2024 became the first year in a decade to see a decline in manufacturing establishments.

Exports for Montana’s manufacturing industry increased by 10 percent last year, the report stated. The biggest international markets for the industry are Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and South Korea, according to the report.

Manufacturing being shipped to China fell last year, the report noted.

Nondurable goods are a larger contributor to Montana’s manufacturing industry than durable goods, the report said.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, nondurable goods are “products that can be stored or inventoried and that have an average life of less than three years.”

The department defined durable goods as “products that can be stored or inventoried and that have an average life of at least three years.”

Nondurable goods produced approximately $1.7 billion in real GDP last year, with food production and petroleum and coal products leading the way, the report said.

Durable goods produced $1.3 billion in real GDP in 2024, the report found.

Both manufacturing sectors have grown over the last five years, but they started to slow down in the middle of 2024, the report stated. The slowdown continued in 2025 as well.

The industry is experiencing a tight labor market, with 1.7 job openings per hire in durable goods manufacturing.

“Despite recent economic uncertainties, our manufacturers continue to innovate, invest in expansions and automation, and keep upbeat about the future,” Fleming stated.

The report noted the top three most significant areas in Montana for manufacturing based on total wages in 2024 were the Yellowstone River region, Northwestern Montana and Southwestern Montana.

The Yellowstone Region, which consists of Billings, Miles City, Red Lodge, Columbus, Roundup, Crow Reservation and Northern Cheyenne Reservation, created $378.8 million in total wages last year with the top industry being petroleum and coal products.

Northwestern Montana, which is made up of Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Flathead Reservation, Polson, Eureka and Libby, produced $295.6 million in wages, with the biggest industry being wood products.

Southwestern Montana, which contains Bozeman, Big Sky, Three Forks and Livingston, generated $250.7 million in total wages, with the top industry being miscellaneous durable goods.

Going forward, the report said that Montana’s manufacturing industry depends on “how effectively firms respond to shifts in consumer demand and adjust to external economic conditions.”

“The gradual rise of mid-sized firms, the diversity of regional industry clusters, and the adaptability of Montana’s manufacturers will be critical in shaping outcomes,” the report found.