Montana Ranked: Most Affected States In 2025 Government Shutdown

The government shut down… Is it over yet? Bad news: no. It's been 15 days since Uncle Sam flipped the open sign. The Senate failed to advance the GOP funding bill for the eighth time as the shutdown drags on, leaving federal employees and contractors hanging in the balance. 

WalletHub just dropped a report giving some hard numbers on which states are feeling the pinch the most. They looked at things like the share of federal jobs, federal contract dollars per capita, and even the impact on families receiving food stamps. Basically, if your state leans heavily on Uncle Sam for paychecks or projects, you're feeling it.

For Montana, the news is mixed. Big Sky Country ranked 14th on WalletHub's list of the states most affected by the shutdown, scoring 37.79. That's not great... and it's enough to make a dent. With national parks drawing tourists and federal contractors spread across the state, its got a lot of people worried. Roughly 900,000 federal employees nationwide have been furloughed, and nearly 700,000 are working without pay, so Montana is not alone in its frustration.

Economists say this partial shutdown costs the economy around $400 million per day, and with no end in sight, it's anyone's guess how long the ripple effects will last.

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For anyone keeping score, the WalletHub study also notes a trend: red states are, on average, less affected than blue states, but the damage is nationwide. Montana residents just have to ride it out while Uncle Sam figures out his budget drama.