When it comes to the outdoor recreation economy, Montana is at the top of the list.
The state came in at number one in a recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report. It touted that Montana leads in gross domestic product (GDP) concerning the size of the state’s outdoor recreation economy as a portion of the GDP.
Montana also came in second to Hawaii as 5.1% of Montana’s GDP is connected to the state’s outdoor recreation economy. This is in large part due to boating and fishing, which bring in an average of $20.9 billion a year. Montana also features 34 million acres of public land for those activities.
According to the report, the outdoor recreation economy takes up $427.2 billion of the national GDP, which represents a 3.9% increase, compared to the 2.4% boost the economy has seen in general. On top of that, salaries and employment saw a quicker growth rate for the outdoor recreation economy than the national economy.
