Montana Ranks Seventh For U.S. Olympians Per Capita
Montana ranks seventh in the nation for the number of Olympic athletes by birthplace on a per-capita basis since 1924, placing the state behind Alaska and New Hampshire and ahead of New York and Rhode Island.
A total of 58 Montana-born athletes have competed in summer and winter Olympic Games since the first Winter Olympics was held in 1924, according to an analysis by Montana Free Press using data from Olympedia. Adjusted for population, that amounts to 5.8 Olympians per 100,000 residents — a rate higher than 43 other states and 89 percent higher than the national average of 3.0.
Montana trails only Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Minnesota, Alaska and New Hampshire in per-capita Olympic production since 1924. Vermont leads the nation at around 10 Olympians per 100,000 residents while Massachusetts and Hawaii narrowly exceed seven per 100,000.
California has produced more than 1,700 Olympians over the same period, the most of any state, but ranks 10th per capita at 4.5 per 100,000 residents due to its population being nearly 38 times larger than Montana as of the 2020 census.
Montana’s total includes a fairly even ratio of athletes who competed in the Summer and Winter Games. Of the state’s Olympians, 55 percent have been competitors in the winter Olympics with the remaining 45 percent participating in the Summer Olympic Games.
That’s a contrast to Vermont, where nearly 85 percent of Olympians on record competed in the Winter games, and Hawaii, where 98 percent of Olympians have competed in Summer games.
New York and Rhode Island round out the states immediately behind Montana. The bottom of the ranking is populated by several large states, including Texas, Florida and North Carolina, which rank low on a per-capita basis despite sending dozens or even hundreds of athletes to the games.
Montana ranks 37th in its total number of Olympians since 1923.
Montana athletes have competed in sports including basketball, boxing, shooting, distance running, swimming, hockey, rowing, discus, shot put, wrestling, luge and a variety of skiing events. They include Konnor Ralph, who learned to ski at Great Divide Ski Area outside of Helena and competed in the Men’s Slopestyle and Big Air competitions in this year’s Olympic Games as well as Jake Sanderson who was part of the Men’s Hockey team’s that upset the Canadian team to bring home the gold for Team USA this year. The 2026 Winter Olympics ended on Feb. 22.
