HELENA – New census data shows that Montana’s population did not grow enough over the last 10 years for the state to gain a second congressman.
U.S. Census data released Tuesday morning put Montana’s population at 989,415. That’s a 9.7 percent increase from 2000, when 902,195 people lived in the state.
But it fell short of an increase that would have given the state a second member in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The once-a-decade government count is used to reapportion the 435 House seats among the 50 states.
Montana has one congressman, Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg.
The state’s 9.7 percent growth rate mirrored the nation’s rate over the last decade. The 2010 census puts the U.S. population at 308,745,538.