Montana Has America’s Third Lowest Unemployment Rate
Montana ranks only behind South Dakota and North Dakota.
Montana had America’s third lowest unemployment rate in April at 2.7 percent.
This unemployment rate remained unchanged from March.
Montana is behind South Dakota (1.8 percent) and North Dakota (2.6 percent) in the race for America’s lowest unemployment rate.
Vermont also has an unemployment rate of 2.7 percent.
April’s unemployment rating marks Montana’s 46th consecutive month of having an unemployment rate below 3.4 percent. In addition, this is the seventh straight month the state has seen its jobless rate below 3 percent.
The last time Montana had an unemployment rate at 4 percent was January 2021.
Montana’s unemployment rate is well below the national average of 4.2 percent. Washington D.C. has the country’s highest unemployment rate at 5.8 percent. Nevada and Michigan are ranked second and third with jobless rates of 5.6 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.
“With more Montanans working than ever before, we're continuing our historic stretch of near record low unemployment and leading the nation with the third lowest rate,” Gov. Greg Gianforte said.
“As we work to put more money back in the pockets of hardworking Montanans through our historic tax cuts, our economy continues to grow as businesses create more good-paying jobs,” the governor added.
The counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Fallon, Liberty and Prairie at 1.6 percent. As a county, Lincoln County has the state’s highest unemployment rate at 5.4 percent.
Fifty-five of Montana’s 56 counties have an unemployment rate of 5 percent or below. Seven of those counties have an unemployment rate at 2 percent or less.
Montana’s five largest counties, Yellowstone, Gallatin, Missoula, Flathead and Cascade, all have unemployment rates at 3 percent or under.
In terms of the state’s seven reservations, only three of them had unemployment rates below 6 percent. Flathead Reservation had the lowest jobless rate at 3.9 percent. Fort Belknap Reservation had the highest unemployment rate at 10.8 percent.
The state, as a whole in April, lost 400 jobs.
From February 2020 to April 2025, the state’s workforce has grown by 28,884 people, which is a 5.3 percent increase.
As of May 18, Montana’s economy has 12,926 job openings.
- - -
Zachery Schmidt is the founder of The Montana Chronicles. If you have any tips, please send them to montanachronicles@proton.me.