Missoula's Economy Has a Secret Co-Pilot

Ask any longtime Missoula business owner what gets them through a slow February, and the answer is usually the same: last July.

Tourism has quietly become one of the most powerful forces shaping how money moves through this city — and local voices are starting to say so out loud.

Montana's Visitor Numbers Are Staggering

Melissa Weddell, director of the University of Montana Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research, says the statewide picture is almost hard to believe.

In 2025, Montana welcomed 13.2 million visitors — roughly 13 tourists for every single resident in the state.

That traffic translated into $5.6 billion in visitor spending across Montana, cementing tourism as a major pillar of the state's economy, according to Weddell.

Missoula Feels It Directly

A significant portion of that statewide spending flows straight into Missoula businesses — though pinning down an exact local figure is difficult.

Chad Bauer, president and CEO of the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, put it plainly: tourism spending is likely the difference between businesses staying open and businesses closing.

That's not a small thing in a city where independent shops and restaurants define the character of the place.

What Business Owners Are Actually Seeing

Matt Muhsam, owner of Worden's — one of Missoula's most storied local spots — estimates his business runs roughly 50-50 between locals and tourists over the course of a full year.

Come summer, that balance tips hard: Muhsam says his numbers easily double as the season rolls through.

Aimee McQuilkin, owner of Betty's Divine, echoed the same reality from her corner of town.

She described summer tourism as what allows many small businesses to survive the long, quiet stretch of winter — essentially, a few months of strong visitor traffic bankroll the leaner ones.

The Trend Isn't Slowing Down

Both the data and the on-the-ground experience of local owners point in the same direction: tourism in Missoula has been growing year over year.

If that trajectory continues, the economic ripple effects — more revenue for local shops, more cushion for small businesses in the off-season — are likely to follow.

For a city that takes pride in its independent, locally owned character, that's a dynamic worth paying attention to.

The Full Picture

As KPAX reported, local business owners and tourism researchers are increasingly open about just how central visitor spending has become to Missoula's economic health.

It's a conversation worth having — especially as the city keeps growing and the question of who Missoula is built for gets louder every season.