Montana tech industry generated $7.9B, outpaced state economy
(Montana High-Tech Business Alliance) Montana's high-tech industry grew twice as fast as the overall Montana economy from 2014 to 2024, increasing its share of state GDP from 3.6 percent to 5 percent, according to a new report released by the Montana High Tech Business Alliance and the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER).
In 2024, the industry generated $7.9 billion in revenue and contributed $4.4 billion in value added to Montana’s economy, underscoring its growing role as a driver of the state’s prosperity.
The 2026 Montana High Tech Industries Report combines an analysis of industry trends using federal and private economic data with a statewide survey of Montana high-tech businesses to provide the most comprehensive assessment of Montana's technology economy since 2020.
The research also found Montana’s technology wages have become nationally competitive. In 2025, average wages in Montana’s tech sector reached $146,000, about 2.4 times Montana’s overall average wage of $62,000 per worker. As recently as 2018, Montana's computer systems design workers earned 35 percent less than their U.S. counterparts. Large recent wage gains eliminated that gap in 2024 and 2025.
"The data shows that Montana's technology industry has become a larger and more competitive part of the state's economy," said Jeffrey Michael, director of the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research. "The combination of strong wage growth and increasing economic impact points to an industry that continues to evolve rapidly."
The survey also found that AI adoption is widespread across Montana’s technology sector. 87 percent of responding firms use AI daily or occasionally and 76 percent say AI is moderately or extremely strategic to their future growth. For the first time, companies reported AI skills as a consideration in hiring.
“These findings underscore the need to help Montana workers, employers, educators, and communities build the AI literacy required to participate in the next phase of economic growth,” said Christina Quick Henderson, executive director of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance.
Remote work is now a durable feature of Montana’s high-tech economy. More than half of employees at responding firms work from home at least part of the time, including 30 percent who work fully remotely.
The industry’s strengths and challenges have remained consistent since 2020. Technology companies reported that access to capital was their organization’s largest impediment to faster growth. Talent recruitment and customer acquisition remain the next biggest challenges.
Survey respondents continue to cite Montana’s quality of life – its lifestyle, the work/life balance, the recreational opportunities and the beauty of the landscape – as the greatest advantages to doing business in the state.