Montana license plates have, for over 100 years, used county population for the numbers you see on them.  A lot can change in 100 years and one local Montanan wanted to find out what number each county would be with today's population.

Using the 2020 Census Cody McCracken from Chinook, MT set about renumbering the counties with their updated populations.

I can already hear the screaming from Butte.  I can also hear the cheering from Billings.  It's a weird thing to be obsessed with, but these numbers on the plates are a big deal to some folks.

Here is what each counties new number would be using the latest census data.

A map showing the new numbering for Montana counties by population
@codymccracken24 via Twitter
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New Montana County Numbers

A map showing the new numbering for Montana counties by population

Some counties remained pretty close to what they were over 100 years ago, others had big jumps or drops.

One that you may notice is Park County and Powder River County.  You may have always wondered how was Powder River #9 anyhow.  Well according to one redditor there is a bit of interesting history to why that is.

I might be alone in this, but I love finding out about neat little trivia facts like this.  I hope it is true.

Cody also made a second map that shows the changes, both increases and decreases, in each county from when Montana started using the numbers.

A map showing the changes in numbering for Montana counties by population
@codymccracken24 via Twitter
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Changes in Montana County Numbers

A map showing the changes in numbering for Montana counties by population.

With the new "Sponsored Plates" program in Montana there are plenty of plates that don't even display the county numbers on them, so it might not even be something that needs to be updated.

One redditor has an extremely specific reason they would like to see the plates stick with the numbering system in place.

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