Mountain West Continues to Grow, Migration Plays Large Role

By Courtney Lowery, 4-13-09

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The Rocky Mountain West continues to grow with Utah, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming all in the top 10 of the nation’s fastest growing states, according to an analysis from the Center for the Rocky Mountain West.

Utah is the fastest growing state in the nation, growing 2.53 percent from July of 2007 to 2008. Colorado grew 2 percent in that time period, Idaho grew 1.8 percent and Wyoming increased by 1.8 percent. Montana grew by 1.13 percent, putting it in 14th place.

This is all from an article in the spring issue of the Center’s newsletter, which looks at the trends behind this growth, of which, net migration is a big one.

From the article:

Sixty-four percent of Utah’s total population growth during the year was from positive net migration. About 60% of growth by both Wyoming and Montana and about half of growth by Colorado and Idaho was positive net migration. So migration trends play a large role in regional growth patterns.

Click here for the full piece.

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