I was looking at states with the lowest population density per square mile and Montana and Wyoming are the only two states in CONUS still in single digits.  Surprisingly, Idaho is now No. 8; I remember when it was only beat by Alaska!  Wikipedia says ID has experienced a "tremendous" increase in population in the last several years.

What are the best and worst features of WY and MT?  I googled "scenery" and, man, they almost look identical!

Montana is a terrible place. No one should come here.

I dream of owning a summer place in one of those one day.

Zero interest in living there through a winter though.  

I lived in Wyoming for ~5 years.

I really, really, really love the state. I'd live there now if I could, but the very things that make it so awesome, are some of the same things that make it nigh impossible for somebody in my profession to live there. There just isn't enough opportunity.

I would like to live in Montana and have a pick up truck.

They're both incredibly beautiful.

If I could reasonably live in either I would count myself lucky

Will you raise rabbits?

Maybe even a rec-reashunal vehi-cul?

Same here.

Hard choice.. I like Idaho too!

We call it "Poverty, with a view".

I'm guessing the pics of scenery on the internet only show the good parts.

A large part of Wyoming is a barren waste land, not a tree for miles, with wind that never stops blowing.  Seriously.  The other part is owned by the Jackson billionaires.

Personally, I'd raise me up a crop of dental floss.

Yessir. Raising it up, waxing it down...in a little white box that I could sell uptown, maybe?

Ahh, that'd be the life. Just me and my pygmy pony, over by a dental floss bush.

Which ever one has fewer Californians at any given point in time.

FPNI

Wyoming has 69,286 Obama voters which is almost 12% of the population

Montana has 201,839 Obama voters which is almost 20% of the population

Wyoming has less liberals, Wyoming wins.

So is almost all of eastern Montana, but I still love it all.


I've lived on both states as well as Utah.  Both are awesome and I can't wait to get back for good.  Montana has far greater opportunity for employment, culture, health care, etc.

Wyoming for sure. They are contained to Jackson.

Neither.  People are rude, land is expensive and hard to come by, very few luxuries when living in a city, slow internet, bad cell phone reception, hunting is vastly over-rated, crime is under-rated, jobs are scarce, and 90% of both states is flat badlands no different than New Mexico or Nevada.

As for the 10%, all those fancy pictures you see are merely that...pictures.  Most of them photoshopped to enhance colors and "beauty".  None of it actually looks like that.  It's rugged mountains.  

Why in the world anyone would move there is beyond me.  Winters are miserably cold, summers are garbage, fires are rampant, and you have to deal with all the nimrods that fall into the trap of believing it's pretty...or something.

Take my advice - to the beach.  There's no where good in Montana or Wyoming.

Gonna be a mennil-toss flykune

We Lived in eastern Montana for 12 years;Rosebud County...5000 square miles,9000 population and probably 1/2 of that was in the towns of Forsyth and Colstrip........

I'd go back in a heartbeat,if I could.

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic.

Having spent a lot of time in both states, I'd pick Montana.

I too always wanted to move to MT for the same reason as you  (and I've been a Southern boy all my life) and then I did some research, and I know people in all three States. The winters are long and the weather is unpredictiable (the Bozeman area of MT seems to have the best weather in the State and less brutal winters). Real-estate prices are outlandish as are property taxes. The cost of living is 30% higher than the National Average. The per-capita income in MT is ranked 48-49% in the US (last time I checked). MT ranks #2 in the US for traffic fatalities.

I have been told and read that jobs do not pay very well compared to the rest of the US, most are service industry jobs... But, it's also because many people last a winter or two and then leave. I read one article, it's shocked me if true) that 85% of the people who move to MT leave after a few years because of the poor pay, cost of living, and winters, idk if that is a solid fact thought.

Two things I have gleaned from members of this forum and articles: Have a job lined up (or be retired with a good income) and bring your own woman. No offense to anyone living in MT/ID/WY, but I don't think I saw one attractive female in the State(s) that was a local... Sure a few from the University and some in the seasonal service industry, tourists, but that was about it... Not trying to insult anyone, my then GF even stated it.

My then GF said she wouldn't move to any of the three and she is a serious outdoors nut... She'll go on week hikes by herself.

I'm not knocking the three States, everyone wants something different, and they do have their beautiful qualities, but it's seems like it would get old really quick and the winters would get old VERY quickly. One thing I really liked about ID, the people all seem to want to be left alone by the rest of the World, they were friendly, but they didn't want people messing with their State or their way of life, basically MYOB... I liked that.

I've been in the Summer (which is nice) and winter/spring, it's get's fucking cold! Don't let anyone give you that "it's a dry cold", bs cold is cold.

Those things said, they are beautiful States and if you can hack it climate/financially/socially, go for it.

About half of what he said is no-shit, not-being-sarcastic true

Only white people like the cold northwest. I self identify as a black person so I gravitate towards the warm southeast but my inner Germanic side has me hard working and stuck in Ohio for the job...darn krauts.

Other than his last sentence and his percentage of "flat badlands", I mostly agree with him. He's right about the picture part, shit just look at Google Earth, not huge amount of green in those Sat photos, yet every picture shows there green mountain peaks etc. I'm not agreeing on the Photoshop part, just they cherry pick the pictures/parts of the State.  My ex said she was shocked by the lack of old growth trees in MT, she actually preferred WY. My favorite was Flat Head lake/Valley, but I was told that because of the Lake, the winter sky is very gloomy and not clear. I know that after about two weeks, if I don't see some blue sky and Sun, we all seem the get mildly depressed.

People up there seem to drink pretty hard too.

I have an ex who moved up there for a guy, she was a city girl, scared of bugs, etc... She seems to be doing okay, but he has a fairly good paying job and she's working two jobs. People can read or hear all they want about a place, until they have made an attempt to live there, you never know. Everyone is different. I have a friend who misses Pittsburg winters, I think she's nuts lol.

How anyone could not want to live in a state with a landscape like this is beyond me.

Only because the wind blew some away.  Montana and Wyoming are fantastic places to live if you hate the existence of other people.

I guess that means you wont get many clients in either state.
In the infamous words of Extorris, Oh Well....

Looks beautiful, no doubt, but that lasts for about, what, a week?

Idaho?  No, YOU da' ho!

Then somehow without making the news things have RAPIDLY deteriorated from when I came through

Well, it is ranked #2 for suicides per capita.

Wyoming is #1.

Says the guy from Connecticut.

My lovely wife and I plan on moving to Montana in 5-10.  Once this house is paid in full in the next 24 months, it'll be quite easy to be mobile.

I think we'll have to visit WY before we make a decision.

Mt and Wyo are being infiltrate by Californians at and alarming rate. It will not be long and we have the same problems as they do. They are insane in believing that when they move here things will be different, then turn around and want the same thing here as they had in Calf.   The life style of Mt and Wyo are great if you move here, live it.

My story, for what its worth---

I moved to Montana from Virginia about 8 years. I lived too close to Northern Virginia and the millions of people there.

I had a job lined up before I moved here. That is likely the most important part. Montana only has about a million people. Less people means less job opportunity. I knew beforehand that my job would pay the bills. I did a lot of research online about apartment rentals, etc...

Women-- Yeah it is a problem. They do call this 'Montucky' for a reason. Girls seem to have a kid or two by the time they are 20. That comes with the territory. I met my now-wife in a city about 2.5 hours drive away.

Alcohol-- Yes people drink a lot here. It is just the thing to do. They also like to drink and drive. I am one of the few guys I know that has not had a DWI.

Winter-- Yes it can suck. That first winter I was here it stayed at least -15 for about 2 weeks straight. People just deal with it. It is nothing to see everybody's parked cars and trucks idling while they go into a store for 30 minutes. We just had about 2 inches of snow a few days ago and in my personal experience it has snowed as late as May 25th.

The scenery-- Yes is it absolutely awesome! You almost get used to having a nice background everywhere you look. If a person is into hiking and fishing this is the place. I don't hunt anymore, but that is somewhat more complicated and can get real expensive if you don't own a ranch.

Hope this helps!

If we had the funding, we'd plop ourselves in the Bitterroot and never leave.
I see why my Grandad wanted to live out his life there.
Haven't been back since he passed in '14.

Looks like California OP, You should check out California.

they're about the same.

WY has no state income tax, IIRC, so it has that going for it.

MT has no sales tax.

MT is prettier, which is why liberals are moving in. it's the new colorado.  

WY will be one of the last conservative holdout states.

Lol this.  Wyoming is awesome though. Definitely Wyoming.

Of course not. Elk can't use phones silly...

A.W.D.

I think his location is a clue.

A.W.D.