In a recent economic study, Montana had the lowest economic density of all the states. To Montana residents none of this is likely to come as a surprise. Many of us reside here because of that rural character and those small cities and towns. We are a throw back to a previous era of rural and small town lifestyles. But those statistics tell us something else.
Economic productivity rises with the density of settlement and the size of cities.
That is why businesses in large cities can afford to pay workers higher wages. But those higher wages are not pure gravy to workers in large urban areas. The dense settlement causes the cost of living, especially the cost of housing, to rise. Congestion, pollution, and social problems such as crime are also more severe. It is these very real costs that explain why the entire nation s population does not live in one huge densely settled urban area.