Billings, Montana

 

With a population of 117,116 as of 2020, Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana. It is the capital of Yellowstone County and the largest city in the Billings Metropolitan Area, which has a projected population of 184,167 in 2020. It has a trade area of nearly 500,000 square kilometres.

Because of its quick expansion after its establishment as a railroad town in March 1882, Billings was dubbed the "Magic City." Billings is the trading and distribution centre for much of Montana east of the Continental Divide, northern Wyoming, and western North Dakota and South Dakota, with one of the largest trade regions in the country. For most of the same area, Billings is also the biggest retail destination.

The city has experienced and continues to experience rapid expansion and a robust economy; it has experienced and continues to experience the most growth of any city in Montana. Parts of the metro area are experiencing rapid expansion. Lockwood, an eastern suburb, grew at a pace of 57.8% from 2000 to 2010, the most of any Montana municipality. Billings escaped both the economic slump and the housing bust that afflicted the rest of the country from 2008 to 2012. The city accommodates a variety of conventions, concerts, athletic events, and other rallies, with more hotel accommodations than any other town within a five-state region. The city's growth rate remained high throughout the shale oil boom, thanks to the Bakken oil development in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, the greatest oil discovery in US history, as well as the Heath shale oil discovery just north of Billings. Although the city is expanding, the rate of growth has slowed significantly as oil prices have fallen in recent years.

Zoo Montana, Yellowstone Art Museum, Pompey's Pillar, Pictograph Cave, and Chief Plenty Coups State Park are among the attractions in and surrounding Billings. The Beartooth Highway connects Red Lodge and Yellowstone National Park and includes the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Red Lodge Mountain Resort, and the Beartooth Highway. Yellowstone National Park's northeast gate is around 100 miles from Billings.