Whitefish population tops 6,000

Population data released by the U.S.

Census Bureau last week confirmed what many locals already

suspected — Flathead County and its three cities saw double-digit

growth over the past decade.

Whitefish’s population grew more than

26 percent from the time of the last census in 2000 to 6,357 people

in the 2010 census, making it the state’s 14th largest city. The

city’s population occupied about 73 percent of the city’s 4,086

housing units, leaving 1,104 units vacant.

City manager Chuck Stearns said he was

surprised by the census results.

“I thought it would be 7,500 people,”

he said.

The census result coincides with the

centennial of Whitefish’s advancement from a “town” to a “city”

according to state law. Whitefish was incorporated as a town in

1905, but the 1910 census recorded more than 1,000 people.

The city council recognized Whitefish

as a third-class city, with less than 5,000 people, on March 22,

1911. Whitefish became a second-class city by city council

resolution in 2005.

Flathead County’s 22.1 percent growth

rate was the second-fastest in the state, after Gallatin County.

The population in Flathead County grew by 16,457 to 90,928, making

it the third largest county in Montana, slightly ahead of Gallatin

County.

About 80 percent of the county’s 46,963

housing units were occupied, according to the census, leaving 9,459

units vacant.

Kalispell was the fastest growing city

in the state. Its population grew over the past decade by 40

percent to 19,927 people, making it the seventh largest city in the

state. About 92 percent of its 9,379 housing units were

occupied.

Columbia Falls, Montana’s 18th largest

city, grew slightly faster than Whitefish over the past decade,

increasing by 1,043 people to 4,688. About 93 percent of the city’s

1,994 housing units were occupied.

During Monday’s Whitefish City Council

meeting, councilor Phil Mitchell noted that for some time now,

people have assumed Whitefish was the fastest growing city in

Montana when in fact Whitefish was No. 3 in Flathead County.

Flathead County as a whole, outside of

the three incorporated cities, grew by 16 percent to 59,956 people.

The population of the Bigfork area increased to 4,270 people, and

the Lakeside area increased to 2,669 people.

The state as a whole grew by 9.7

percent to 989,415 people — not enough to qualify for a second U.S.

representative in Congress.

Population growth in Montana has

fluctuated widely over the past 50 years. According to census

takers, the state’s population increased by 2.9 percent in the 1970

census, by 13.3 percent in 1980, by 1.6 percent in 1990, and by

12.9 percent in 2000.

Census results will be used to

determine the state’s 100 legislative districts in a process that

could take a few years and would not be in effect until the 2014

election.