Montana’s population estimated to pass 1 million

HELENA, Mont. — State officials estimate that Montana’s population has surpassed 1 million people for the first time. Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s office said today that state Census and Economic Information Center officials believe Montana passed the milestone sometime between November and December. Schweitzer’s office says the estimate is based on growth trends between the 2000 and 2010 Census counts, along with recent population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and two other independent analyses. The 2010 Census put Montana’s population at 989,415, a 9.7 percent increase from 2000. If the state has passed the 1 million mark, that leaves just Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming as states having fewer than a million people.