The national population density had decreased by 0.3 per square mile since the last census ten years ago, and was said to be 50.4 per square mile nationwide. In this state, however, the population had grown once again to 674,767 total people in the state.
There was a lot of speculation over which home town would show the greatest growth since the last decade's count was made. The towns of Great Falls, Butte, and Billings, Montana, all expected to lead in growth for the state, but what the results showed was that Butte lost about 4,000 total. The total state population was 591,024, which showed overall growth of little more than 30,000.
The population in Montana in 1940 had grown to 559,456 people. There was an increase in the Indian population in the state, which helped increase the overall population.
The great depression had put the entire country under stress with loss of jobs and rising prices, and had created a massive amount of unemployment nationwide, with 2,508,151 workers not having jobs. The population for the state this year was 537,606.
Montana census records showed that the population growth in the last ten years had considerable for this state. The new count was 548,889, up by 172,836 in just a decade.
One of the things that was kept track of this year, and shown to increase the overall national population, as well as the population of this state, was the increase in immigrants from Italy. The population of Montana was found to have grown to an amazing 376,053 since the previous decade's count, thanks in part to the immigrants being allowed to move into the state.
The population had increased all over, with Montana having a growth of more then 100,000 people. The total population for the state was now up to 243,329, and still growing. Other interesting things were also happening this year, such as a total solar eclipse which made the headlines.
Growing by leaps and bounds, Montana's population has more than tripled in the last ten years, with a total population of 142,924 people. There appears to also have been an election upset, with the result being that the Montana Republican Senators were seated in the Senate.
The second round of Montana census records proved that the state is indeed becoming more populated, with a total of 39,159. Enumerators had to go from farm to farm, house to house, to count everyone, and at times took the liberty to estimate the amount of people in towns.
The enumerators for this year's population count were United States Marshals. Some of the areas may not have been counted exactly, and there may have been some estimating as to exactly how many people were in certain areas. The count they came up with for Montana was 20,595. At this time the state had no Representatives in the House.
The Montana Historical Society has developed a page for African Americans in Montana to find heritage resources. The page has access to Montana census information and records. The historical records will also include information that was not found in the census, but could be derived from other sources, such as newspaper articles. All information is listed as a PDF file.
The Census and Economic Information Center at the Montana Department of Commerce provides some Montana census information. You can see the current population of the state, view the current response rates, or find the population of a given county or town. Towards the bottom of the page are links to data that has been collected.
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