If you are one of the many Montanans who are trying you're best to make ends meet, here's some bad news.

According to a TikTok video, there is a list of states that require at least an annual combined income of 200 thousand or more, and Montana is one of them. Yep, according to the data from Smart Asset, you would need 211 thousand dollars a year for a family of 4 to live comfortably here in Big Sky Country.

What's the average household income for Montanans?

It looks like the average household income here in Montana is right around 98 thousand dollars, so, to live comfortably, the average household is just shy of over a hundred grand a year.

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I know, I know, its all those folks who moved here and caused the property values to sky rocket! Well, I do believe they are to blame, but you also need to remember, that locals sold off that property at those high prices. So, yeah, people from out of state might have caused the prices to rise, but Montanans benefited from selling off those properties at extraordinarily high prices.

How can the average Montana afford to live?

What do they do? How can they afford to live?  From the statistics they are far from comfortable. I'll use myself as an example. I make more than I ever have in my life, and my wife has a Master's Degree in Education and we aren't anywhere near that 200 thousand dollar mark. Nor can we afford a house in the town that we live.

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So, who's to blame? The transplants? the locals? The state government? Well, if we are being honest, we could probably spread out the blame to all of the above. What do you think? Let us know by sending us a message on our app.

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