Yellowstone TV series injects $70 million into Montana’s economy

Filming for the fourth season of the hugely popular television series Yellowstone just wrapped, and the numbers are there, not for the viewership, but rather for the huge effect the show has had on Montana’s economy.

On Monday, KGVO contacted Dr. Patrick Barkey, director of the Office of Business and Economics Research at the University of Montana, and he provided the stunning numbers.

“Well, this is a unique opportunity to take a look at a comprehensive first financial statement of the spending that took place during season four of the television series Yellowstone here in and around the Bitterroot Valley, including Missoula and Helena as well, and they gave us an opportunity to really describe what production operations mean to Montana’s economy,” Dr. Barkey began.

Barkey said season four alone contributed millions to Montana’s bottom line.

“The bottom line is that there are quite a few jobs that are ultimately supported because of Yellowstone and when you look at this season it has deported over 500 jobs across the state and those jobs have been an increase of ‘about $25 million in Montana household income.,’ he said.

Barkey said the TV series was just the start of the economic impact.

“When you’re doing this kind of work, Yellowstone’s spending is just the spark, if you will, that sustains other spending, which makes the ultimate total impact of any activity, especially this particular production, greater. than the production itself,” he said. . “We are looking at the production, which is the gross receipts of Montana businesses and our business organization, totaling nearly $86 million. So for an activity that took place over a period of about five months in our state, this was a pretty significant event.

With just over 100 Montana residents employed through the television series Yellowstone, Barkey said hourly wages average several times the minimum wage.

“The production directly employed 116 people from Montana for an average of 11 40-hour weeks, and those jobs paid an average of more than $66 an hour,” he said. “So these are by no means minimum wage jobs. They’re not year-round jobs, but nonetheless they pay so much that they do a hell of a job if you will in the global economy.

The study found that because of “Yellowstone,” Paramount’s worldwide hit television series starring Kevin Costner, there were:

527 permanent state jobs, not including 624 Montana residents who were employed during filming as extras; $25.3 million in annual personal income for Montana households and $85.8 million in additional gross receipts for Montana businesses and non-commercial organizations.