Montana
I moved to Montana after getting priced out of California. I work in the trades — not all transplants are rich remote workers buying up property.
- Ian Baylon moved to Montana in April 2022 after watching “Yellowstone” and visiting the state.
- The 34-year-old said you get more bang for your buck renting in Montana than in the Bay Area.
- Baylon said not all Montana transplants are remote workers buying property and driving up prices.
This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with 34-year-old Ian Baylon, a tradesman who moved from California to Montana in April 2022. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, San Francisco. Later as an adult I lived in Crockett, which is a beautiful little coastal Bay Area town. Even in Crockett the housing was expensive.
When my girlfriend, now wife, and I moved in together, the cheapest thing we could find for ourselves was in Vallejo, which is super busy, super violent. But that’s what we could afford, even though I was a manager at a granite shop and my wife was working as an esthetician.
During COVID, we got sucked into “Yellowstone,” watched the whole series, and decided to book a trip to Montana in February 2022 just to see how it is.
We stayed in West Yellowstone and had a blast here. One of the days, I decided to look for a job, just to see who was hiring and what they were willing to pay. I googled a couple of granite spots and a company was hiring in Bozeman. I went in for an interview. They asked me, “What will it take for you to move up here?”
They were willing to pay me my $89,000 a year salary plus moving costs, plus a deposit on the place we rented.
From March to April, within a month, I got the job, we rented the house, and we packed up and moved here.
Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images
The culture shock has mostly been good
Moving up here was a little bit of a culture shock, but more in a good way.
People are a lot nicer up here. I’m Mexican American, my wife is white, and no one says anything racist or out of pocket to us. I was super worried about that. A gentleman the other day opened the door for me at the gas station. He was wearing a MAGA hat.
Montana is not what people think. There’s a huge diversity. I equate Bozeman to Berkeley.
I tell people I’m from California and they say “boo” at first, but it’s more of a tit-for-tat. They make fun of me, I make fun of them, and we still get along.
One not good culture shock has been the younger generation. It’s a college town, and they’re not as friendly as my generation is or the generation before me.
Here in the Gallatin Valley where we live now, which includes Bozeman, the housing market is ridiculous. There’s a huge shortage of housing and everything is really expensive.
We thought we were going to be able to come in here and buy property. Or buy a ranch with some land and have animals. Nope. There’s a reason why they call it Boz Angeles. But renting you do get more bang for your buck up here.
Here in Montana there’s a huge shortage of labor too.
While it was very competitive in California, there’s a lot of demand for the trades up here, but nobody up here really wants to learn the trades. The young kids coming into the trades don’t know jack diddly and they expect everything to be handed to them and not work hard.
Gordon Calhoun/Getty Images
Not all Montana transplants are the same
One thing that native Montanans don’t like is that a lot of people that live here in the Gallatin Valley are from out of state, not only from California, but from Washington, New York, Texas, you name any state, they’re here.
I’ve seen both types of transplants. The ones that got out of California because they couldn’t afford it, and the ones that have that expendable money.
That’s where the problem lies. The people that move in and buy up the properties, drive up the cost for the locals, and who don’t really need to work or contribute to the economy here. A lot work in tech or finance, and there’s no need for them to work locally. They can work from home remotely.
But a lot of people moving up here from California are not your techies or your white collar people. It’s people like me, who work in the trades.
We’re just regular people, just like you guys. We got priced out of our own native place.
You do have your trust fund babies from back east and your techies from the West Coast, but the bulk of us are escaping that chokehold. Just to still chase the American dream.
I think we are more happy here than we would’ve been in California, even though we miss it. We do miss our friends, the diversity, and everything that California has to offer.
But living there 24/7 kind of overwhelmed us. The lifestyle was always hurry up and go. Here we work, but there’s so much natural beauty around you. We’re in the valley surrounded by mountains.
On my way home after an 11-hour day, looking at the beautiful mountains and the meadows and the streams and the rivers and the snow-capped Bridgers, how can you be angry? It’s just so soothing.
GREAT FALLS — Blowing dust is becoming a major issue again on the Hi-Line as winds gust to 60–70+ mph, especially from Phillips County eastward.
Visibility has dropped to very low to near zero at times, and there have already been several crashes east of Glasgow near Nashua and Frazer. People are urged to avoid unnecessary travel in these areas if possible.
This is a very dangerous situation for travelers across northeast Montana. Blowing dust is causing near-zero visibility in many locations.
WATCH:
Hazardous driving along the Hi-Line
Highway 2 from Dodson to Wolf Point is closed until further notice, with only emergency travel allowed in these areas.
All red- and black-shaded roads and highways are experiencing severe driving conditions because of the low visibility.
MDT
Click here to visit the MDT 511 site.
(WEDNESDAY, MAY 13) A fast-moving front rolled through north-central Montana on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. The powerful winds gusted to more than 80 miles per hour in some areas.
Shaylan Verploegen shared video from north of Havre, showing a huge “wall” of dirt and dust in a unique weather phenomenon known as a haboob; watch the video and see other viewer photos here:
Fast-moving front kicks up walls of dust
The strong winds caused some damage. There were trees blown over in Havre, Great Falls, and Helena. Part of a roof was blown off in Box Elder, and there were several carports that were destroyed in Havre. There were also numerous power outages reported across the area, some of which lasted for several hours.
Check out more photos and videos shared by KRTV viewers:
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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 13, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 13 drawing
22-31-52-56-67, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from May 13 drawing
17-18-28-37-42, Star Ball: 04, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from May 13 drawing
02-06-10-16, Bonus: 16
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from May 13 drawing
08-13-39-63-66, Powerball: 02
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from May 13 drawing
02-04-13-17-32
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 13 drawing
21-24-29-42-49, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Montana
Public Meeting at Hub on Smith Concerning Montana Water Call Prompting Priority Administration in Tongue Basin
Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart announced that on May 5, 2026, the State of Montana placed a call under Article V(A) of the Yellowstone River Compact to fill Tongue River Reservoir in Montana. As a result, priority administration is in effect on post-1950 water rights in Wyoming that divert water from the Tongue River and its tributaries and are not excluded from the compact.
A public meeting will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 18, in the dining room of The Hub on Smith. Attendees are asked to enter on the north side of the building.
The Tongue River Basin has been experiencing drought conditions over the past year with historically low winter snowpack and streamflow conditions. According to the release, those conditions led to Montana’s interstate call and prompted the administration of the Tongue River Basin in Wyoming.
The priority administration will affect post-1950 water rights within the Tongue River Basin, including reservoir storage, stream diversions and groundwater withdrawals, all of which affect river flows. Post-1950 water rights will be regulated off or prevented from turning on. Wyoming hydrographer-commissioners will continue to administer reservoir storage and post-1950 diversions throughout the spring and work with affected water users until the administration is lifted.
As provided in the compact, domestic uses less than one-half acre in area and livestock uses, including stock reservoirs less than 20 acre-feet in capacity, are excluded from this administration. The release noted these excluded rights could be subject to future regulation to satisfy priority calls by senior Wyoming water rights.
Beginning May 5, 2026, Wyoming hydrographer-commissioners have worked to record the current storage levels of reservoirs with post-1950 water rights. Going forward, those reservoirs can continue to accrue storage so long as post-1950 storage gained after the interstate call on May 5 remains in storage until either the water is released to satisfy the Montana call or Montana lifts the call because Tongue River Reservoir will fill.
Reservoirs with unfulfilled pre-1950 water rights can continue to store water and that storage will not be subject to release to satisfy Montana’s call. However, that storage and other direct flow rights could be subject to regulation to satisfy priority calls by senior Wyoming water rights.
The priority administration will be carried out pursuant to state law by hydrographer-commissioners assigned to various portions of the Tongue River Basin, working under the direction of Division II Superintendent David Schroeder.
The Wyoming State Engineer’s Office can be contacted at:
Jack Morey, deputy state engineer, 307-777-5032, jack.morey2@wyo.gov
David Schroeder, Division II superintendent, 307-674-7012, d.schroeder@wyo.gov
Jeff Cowley, interstate streams administrator, 307-777-1942, jeff.cowley@wyo.gov
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