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.