Census Data and Montana
Indian Reservations
Pam Harris
Bureau Chief
Census and Economic Information Center
Montana Department of Commerce
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CEIC – Who We Are
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Partnership with U.S. Dept. of Commerce,
Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis
to disseminate Montana data collected by federal
agencies
Cvs.C staff provide demographic and economic
data and analysis, GIS support, technical
assistance and training.
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Assist Montana businesses, communities schools,
and all government agencies to access and use this
information for decision-making.
Why Census Data?
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Census data is unique
Only source for small area data (reservation,
cities/towns, tribal census tracts, etc.)
Only source which shows characteristics for the
population such as age, race, gender, educational
attainment, income, labor force, types of
households, etc.
Census results are used to distribute almost $200
billion annually in federal, state, local, and tribal
funds
Examples of American Indian Federal
Programs Relying on Census Data
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Workforce Investment Program
Community Development Block Grants
(CDBG)
Supplemental Food Program for Women,
Infants and Children (WIC)
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
Low Income Energy Assistance
How can data help?
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Census data helps tribal planners evaluate conditions on their
reservations and in their communities.
Tribal governments, states, cities, federal agencies, and businesses all
need current information to make critical decisions.
Data can help decide what services are needed and how to distribute
funding for housing, economic development, health care, and other
programs that benefit veterans, children, families, the elderly and the
society as a whole.
Census data is an important tool for tribal government decisionmaking and could result in improved utility services, new housing,
job training, better school facilities, or a new health clinic to benefit
you, your family, your community or reservation.
More current data coming..
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American Community Survey (ACS) will replace the decennial
census long form questionnaire producing the socio-economic
data every year instead of every 10 years.
Example – Workforce Investment Act of 1998 requires
information about American Indian and Alaska Native
households to support training and employment activities.
ACS will provide this critically important information.
ACS has been endorsed by the Indian and Native American
Employment and Training Coalition and the National Congress
of American Indians.
Flathead and Lake Counties have been a successful part of the
early ACS testing for the last six years.
Census 2010
Pilot project in South Dakota, Cheyenne River Reservation
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An accurate and complete count of the population in 2010
will enable American Indians to receive the correct share
of federal and state resources that are based on census
data
Pilot project is testing new counting methods; setting
standard for how the Census Bureau counts American
Indians all over the U.S.
American Indians have been undercounted in previous
censuses, and the mutual goal of the Census Bureau and
the American Indian community is to reverse that trend in
2010.
Montana Reservations
Accurate Data
Federal Statistical Agencies
Statistics
Grant
Writers
Economic
Developers
Planners
$ for Montana Reservations
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Social
Service
Agencies
Summary
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Federal monies are getting harder to obtain. Data
users need to be smarter about using the
information available to help secure essential
funding for tribal programs.
Without accurate, reliable, and current
information, detailed analysis of Indian
Reservations’ Economies’ will be more difficult.
Need to work together, take ownership of the
data, to ensure that the American Community
Survey and the 2010 Census are the best they can
be, which will ultimately benefit everyone.
Analyzing Montana’s
Indian Reservations’ Economies
Susan Ockert
Senior Research Economist,
Census and Economic Information Center,
Montana Department of Commerce
10
2000 Census Data
BLACKFEET
Population
10,100
Unemployment
22.6%
Per Capita Income
$9,751
Poverty
Daniels
Glacier
Flathead
Hill
Blaine
Phillips
Pondera
Sanders Lake
26.5
BA+
13.5%
% American Indian
84.2%
Chouteau
Missoula
Rosebud
FLATHEAD
Population
Unemployment
Roosevelt
Valley
30.0%
Median Age
Sheridan
26,172
Yellowstone
7.9%
Big Horn
Per Capita Income
Poverty
$14,503
15.8%
Median Age
37.4
BA+
20.8%
% American Indian
26.7%
ROCKY BOY’S
Population
FORT BELKNAP
2,676
FORT PECK
2,959
Population
10,321
Population
Unemployment
23%
Unemployment
17.5%
Unemployment
17.1%
Unemployment
19.5%
Per Capita Income
$9,440
Per Capita Income
$7,736
Poverty
26.6%
Poverty
39.3%
28.4%
Per Capita Income
$7,326
Per Capita Income
$8,150
Per Capita Income
Poverty
38.0%
Poverty
36.5%
Poverty
BA+
% American Indian
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20.5
NORTHERN CHEYENNE
Population
Unemployment
Median Age
CROW
Median Age
23.5
Median Age
$10,691
30.1%
30.2
Median Age
6,894
27.6
Population
Median Age
4,470
22.7
11.8%
BA+
12.5%
BA+
14.6%
BA+
13.8%
BA+
13.5%
96.3%
% American Indian
94.3%
% American Indian
61.9%
% American Indian
74.9%
% American Indian
90.1%
SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, CENSUS 2000
Population by American Indian and by Tribe:
American
Indian
Reservation
Total
Blackfeet
10,110
8,146
Blackfeet alone
7,441
6,894
5,132
Crow alone
4.556
26,172
6,339
Salish alone
Kootenai alone
Salish and Kootenai
1,842
308
2,348
2,959
2,764
Assiniboine alone
Gros Ventres alone
1,068
1,276
10,321
6,116
Assiniboine alone
Assiniboine Sioux alone
Sioux alone
1,107
781
3,406
Northern Cheyenne
4,470
3,835
Northern Cheyenne alone
2,982
Rocky Boy’s
2,676
2,446
Rocky Boy’s Chippewa Cree alone
2130
Crow
Flathead
Fort Belknap
Fort Peck
Tribe
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000
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Number
American Indian Population:
Urban vs. Rural
Urban = 1,000 people per square mile
Item
Number Percent
TOTAL
56,068
100%
Urban
23,347
41.6%
9,537
17%
32,721
58.4%
14,283
25.5%
Metropolitan*
Rural
Not in a Place**
*Metropolitan Areas: Billings, Great Falls, Missoula
**Concentrations of population, housing, and commercial structures that are
identifiable by name but have no legal authority.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000
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What is an ‘economy’?
Businesses
Jobs  Income
Consumers
Create Wealth
•Public Goods
•Zoning/Land Use
•Public Finance
•Public Safety
Government
•Marketing
•Customer Service
•Accounting
•Management
Source: “Understanding Your Community’s Economic Base,
” University of Missouri Extension, http://muextension.missouri.edu
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Redistribute Wealth
Current Reservation Environment
Population
 Faster growth rate
 Younger median age
Education
 Fewer with degrees
 Higher drop out rate
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Sources: See last page
Social
 Larger percent of
population uses food
stamps
 Higher pregnancy
rate
 Higher alcohol
treatment need
Current Reservation Economies
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Higher unemployment
More poverty
Lower per capita income
Lower wages
Lower housing values
Smaller private sector
Sources: See last page
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Types of Jobs
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33% of jobs on the reservation are
Government compared with 15% of jobs in
the country as a whole
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44% of jobs on the reservation are in the
Private Sector compared with 80% of jobs
in the nation
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, fedgazette, March 2006
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Business Environment
Item
1997
2002
Number of businesses – MT
93,677
100,421
Number of Businesses – AI
1,912
1,990
Growth Rate – MT (1997 – 2002)
9%
Growth Rate – AI (1997 – 2002)
4%
Population – MT
878,706
910,670
Population – AI
54,726
57,841
Firms/1,000 citizens – MT
107
110
Firms/1,000 Indians – AI
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Firms with employees – MT
25,974
28,258
Firms with employees – AI
438
357
% of firms with employees/total firms - MT
28%
28%
% of firms with employees/total firms – AI
23%
18%
Sales per business – MT ($1,000)
$402,321
$445,543
Sales per business – AI ($1,000)
$86,436
$107,830
NOTE: AI = American Indian
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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “Survey of Business Owners”
Threshold Analysis
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Central Place Theory - Population needed to
support retail and service businesses
Simple Analysis: population and number of
businesses
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Similar characteristics such as population & location
Does not take into account economies of scale
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Square footage
Number of doctors in one facility
Grocery store
Health care
Financial Institutions
Grocery Stores
Location
Threshold Actual#
On the Reservation
4,480
4
6
Browning
1
2
Wolf Point
1
2
Ronan
2
2
Just off Reservation
2,923
5
5
Trade Center
3,287
10
12
Metropolitan
2,853
75
85
Statewide
2,725
337
337
# Number of Businesses
*Number of Businesses using statewide threshold of 2,725
On the Reservation: Browning, Wolf Point, Ronan
Just Off the Reservation: Cut Bank, Hardin, Glasgow
Trade Center: Havre, Miles City, Glendive
Metropolitan: Missoula, Great Falls, Billings and Helena
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Potential*
Health Care: Doctors and Clinics
Location
On the Reservation
Threshold
Actual#
1,378
13
35
Browning
2
13
Wolf Point
3
10
Ronan
8
12
Just off Reservation
812
18
29
Trade Center
587
56
64
Metropolitan
300
808
476
Statewide
509
1,804
1,804
# Number of Businesses
*Number of Businesses using statewide threshold of 509
On the Reservation: Browning, Wolf Point, Ronan
Just Off the Reservation: Cut Bank, Hardin, Glasgow
Trade Center: Havre, Miles City, Glendive
Metropolitan: Missoula, Great Falls, Billings and Helena
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Potential*
Financial Institutions
Location
On the Reservation
Threshold Actual# Potential*
3,584
5
14
Browning
1
5
Wolf Point
2
4
Ronan
2
5
Just off Reservation
1,044
14
12
Trade Center
1,174
28
27
Metropolitan
780
311
197
1,227
748
748
Statewide
# Number of Businesses *Number of Businesses using statewide threshold of 1,227
On the Reservation: Browning, Wolf Point, Ronan
Just Off the Reservation: Cut Bank, Hardin, Glasgow
Trade Center: Havre, Miles City, Glendive
Metropolitan: Missoula, Great Falls, Billings and Helena
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Implications
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Reservations are underserved in these
private sectors
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Just Off the Reservation serving own
population and reservation
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Trade Centers and Metropolitans serve a
much larger region
Location Quotient
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Determine if number of jobs are what a local
economy should have to serve local needs
Comparison of local employment to statewide for
each industry
< 1 = underserved, > 1 = serving more than local
MT Department of Labor and Industry, Research
and Analysis has calculated LQ for each county
in Montana (www.ourfactsyourfuture.mt.gov)
Fort Peck Reservation
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Industry
LQ
Comment
Grocery Stores
1.2
Slightly serving more than local
Financial
Institutions
0.4
Underserved
Health Care
0.2
Very underserved
Industry
LQ
Comment
Executive Government
10.9
Most over served of all
Human Resource Programs
7.2
2nd over served
Specialty Trade
.13
Underserved
Professional Services
.16
Underserved
Blackfeet Reservation
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Industry
LQ
Comment
Grocery Stores
0.03
Very under served
Financial Institution
ND
Non-disclosable – one establishment
Health Care
ND
Non-disclosable – one establishment
Industry
LQ
Comment
Human Resource Programs
16.6
Most over served of all
Executive Government
14.9
2nd over served
Food Services
.03
Under served
Support for mining
.007
Under served
Comparisons
Entity
Grocery Stores Health Care
Financial Institutions
Fort Peck
1.2
0.2
0.4
Blackfeet
0.03
ND
ND
Statewide
1.04
1.0
1.0
State
– Most over served: Mining except Oil & Gas at 5.7
– Most under served: Textile Mills at .06
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Implications
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Money is leaving the reservations to
purchase retail goods and consumer
services
There is not an adequate supply of financial
services on the reservations
There is not an adequate supply of doctors,
clinics, etc. on the reservations
Diversity of Economy
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Hachman Index measures diversity of economy –
employment spread out among many different
industries compared to benchmark
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Montana or United States
More diversity reduces community’s
vulnerability to economic downturns
Closer to 1 mean more diversity
MT Department of Labor and Industry, Research
and Analysis has calculated HI for each county in
Montana (www.ourfactsyourfuture.mt.gov)
Hachman Index
Fort Peck Reservation
 Blackfeet Reservation
County Hachman Indices
 Lowest (Stillwater)
 Median
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30
= .01
= .25
(McCone, Phillips, Toole)
Highest
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= .24
= .14
= .66
(Gallatin, Missoula, Cascade)
Implications
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Reservation and county economies are not
diverse
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‘One company’ towns
Vibrancy of Economy
Town
Zip Code
# of
Population Retail Est
Pop/Est
# of Govt
entities*
Pop/Govt
Zip Code
Browning
6,689
14
478
81
83
59417
Cut Bank
5,220
27
193
27
193
59427
Wolf Point
5,027
31
162
35
144
59201
Scobey
1,498
14
107
11
136
59263
Lame Deer
2,908
6
485
74
39
59043
Hardin
4,726
29
163
15
315
59034
Crow Agency
2,290
8
286
59
39
59022
Box Elder
2,901
2
1,450
25
116
59521
Harlem
2,565
12
214
19
135
59526
Hays
1,092
3
364
5
218
59527
Pablo
632
4
158
8
79
59855
Ronan
6,202
40
155
20
310
59864
Helena
47,154
277
170
133
355
59601,2,4,20,23,
24,25,26
926,865
5,145
180
2,309
401
Montana
*Reference USA
•921: Executive, Legislative and
•Other government support.
Excludes
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•Law enforcement, public health
NOTE: Red is off the reservation
Sources: Reference USA, www.referenceusa.com,
U.S. Census Bureau, Zip Code Business Patterns, 2002 and 2003
Productivity – Measure of Efficiency
Average Output per Worker (IMPLAN)
Area
Output/worker
Area
Output/worker
Montana
$86,309
Lewis & Clark
$82,675
Blackfeet
$75,398
Cascade
$83,367
Crow
$76,531
Missoula
$82,749
Flathead
$82,532
Gallatin
$80,178
Fort Belknap
$56,367
Flathead
$85,341
Fort Peck
$69,559
Hill
$69,383
Northern Cheyenne
$60,559
Garfield
$82,941
Rocky Boys
$67,638
Richland
$85,986
Glacier
$71,790
Rosebud
$100,944
Toole
$77,466
Blaine
$59,319
Beaverhead
$80,303
Yellowstone
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$116,707
Minnesota IMPLAN Group, www.implan.com
Compensation per Worker
Average Salary per Worker (IMPLAN)
Area
Output/worker
Area
Output/worker
Montana
$24,680
Lewis & Clark
$30,370
Blackfeet
$20,894
Cascade
$28,048
Crow
$21,697
Missoula
$25,324
Flathead
$24,197
Gallatin
$23,500
Fort Belknap
$16,089
Flathead
$23,225
Fort Peck
$17,129
Hill
$23,711
Northern Cheyenne
$27,005
Garfield
$10,775
Rocky Boys
$21,908
Richland
$21,350
Glacier
$26,409
Rosebud
$35,437
Toole
$22,866
Blaine
$19,141
Yellowstone
$28,867
Beaverhead
$21,834
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Minnesota IMPLAN Group, www.implan.com
Reservation
Natural Resources
Resource
Total
Timber Sales (2005)
$ 4,242,299
Coal Royalties (2000)
$ 3,402,663
Gas Royalties (2000)
$
Oil Royalties (2000)
$ 2,550,800
610,000
Montana Reservations compared to U.S. Reservations
• 13% of all acres of coal
• 12% of all oil and gas leases
• 5% of all coal royalties/revenues
• 5% of oil royalties/revenues
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Agriculture on the Reservation
Item
Non Native
American
Total
Native
American
% of Total
Farms
2,552
1,825
727
29%
Average Size (acres)
3,116
2,179
5,196
167%
Market Value of Products
$221,182,000 $162,150,000
$59,032,000
27%
Farm Expenses*
$183,549,000 $150,709,000
$32,841,000
18%
Internet Access
1,406
1,048
358
26%
55%
57%
49%
N/A
Market Value per Acre
$52,116
$59,636
$11,361
22%
Expense per Acre
$43,249
$55,428
$6,320
15%
$8,867
$4,208
$5,041
57%
% of Farms with Internet
Net Income per Acre
* Due to confidential information, only 6 reservations used
United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, http://www.nass.usda.gov/Census_of_Agriculture/index.asp
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Summary
With legal and policy foundation and data collection:
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Reservations have potential to expand private
business sectors
Reservations have natural resources, especially for
energy generation, to use as economic engines
American Indian farmers appear to have comparative
advantage in farming
Contact Information
Susan Ockert
Senior Research Economist
(406) 821-2740
sockert@mt.gov
www.ceic.mt.gov
PowerPoint presentation available on CEIC’s web site at www.ceic.mt.gov/presentations.asp and
MEDA’s web site at www.medamembers.org/memdir.php
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NOTES:
BA+: Bachelor’s and Advanced Degrees
Pregnancy Rate: Pregnancies per 1,000 teens, aged 15-19
Alcohol Treatment Need: Index that includes alcohol mortality and alcohol-defined arrest rates
SOURCES:
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Reservation Data: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; US Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, 2003; MT Department of Labor and Industry, Research Analysis Bureau, 2005
Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, July 1, 2004 Estimates
Unemployment: MT Department of Labor and Industry, Research and Analysis Bureau, Labor Day
Report 2005
Per Capita: US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2003
Poverty: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates, 2002
Housing Value: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000
Median Age: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000
% Food Stamps: MT Department Public Health and Human Services, Statistical Report June 2005
Pregnancies: MT Department of Public Health and Human Services, Trends in Montana Teen
Pregnancies and Their Outcomes 1981-2000, November 2002
Alcohol treatment Need: MT Department of Public Health and Human Services, An Integrated Substance
Abuse Treatment Needs Assessment for Montana, 2001
Drop Out: Office of Public Instruction, Montana High School Dropout Rates by Race/Ethnicity, 2003-04
School Year
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 American Indian and Alaska Native Summary File (AIANSF)
– Sample Data, www.ceic.mt.gov/C2000/allreservationsbytribe.xls
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 2, Matrix PCT1.
www.ceic.mt.gov/C2000/urban_rural_indian.xls