‘Yellowstone’ Star Luke Grimes Is Rejected by Montana Locals: ‘Go Back’
The mega-popular TV franchise “Yellowstone” put Montana in the national spotlight, but some locals have mixed feelings about the attention.
‘Yellowstone’ and ‘Marshals’ shine Lucas Grimes recently told podcaster Joe Rogan that he was given the cold shoulder after moving to the Big Sky State with his family.
“Well, your show got a lot of people moving there, though,” Rogan said.
‘That’s true. Yes. And they’re not happy about that,” Grimes replied.
He shared with Rogan a recent experience he had.
“In the valley I live in, we had a number of people come to visit,” Grimes said. “Our friends from California were driving away, and we went for a walk, and we were in their car. And they had, you know, Cali license plates. We got out and someone had written ‘go back’ in the dust on their car. People are really weird about that, so I don’t tell anyone exactly where I am because they would get really mad at me.”
Grimes said this has influenced where he wants to go.
“I can’t go to bars there anymore because whatever that one idiot is at the bar… he can’t wait to start a fight with me,” Grimes said. “I just can’t wait to do it because it’s a win-win for him, you know? He can sue me or something. I don’t know, but it’s a lose-lose situation for me.”
Despite the backlash, Grimes — who told Rogan he moved his Airstream to Montana during the COVID-19 lockdown and “never left” — said he and his wife, a Brazilian model Bianca Rodrigues Grimeslike living there.
“We love it, man. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” he exclaimed.
Grimes, who lived in Los Angeles for 16 years before making the move, says Montana is the opposite of LA
“I don’t have FOMO about anything anymore,” he said. “I can just think and sleep and read and watch movies, and that’s the best.”
Montana meets California
Chase Heilanda Bozeman real estate agent Keller Williamsmoved to Montana from California almost a decade ago.
“I get a lot of clients from Los Angeles since I’m from there. It’s a niche for me,” he says. Realtor.com®. “California is still the No. 1 state that people come from.”
‘Yellowstone’ attracted many buyers to Montana, especially in 2022 and 2023, Heiland explains. “I remember getting calls from people saying, ‘I saw ‘Yellowstone,’ I want to move there,’ and when I asked if they’d ever been here before, they said no,” he says.
Locals have even called Bozeman — where the average sales price is $937,450 — “Boz Angeles,” he says. He adds that while people like to rob Californians, it’s generally all in fun.
“Are you going to get picked on and picked on in the Bozeman area because you’re from LA? Yes. But do I think people really care if you get that bullshit? No,” he says.
In Montana, prices have skyrocketed
Accelerating home prices and substantial growth have characterized Montana’s housing market since the pandemic began, says Hannah Jonessenior economic research analyst at Realtor.com.
“Home buyers seeking value and views clung to the scenic state, fueled by a remote work revolution that disconnected high-wage salaries from coastal urban centers.” she says.
In February 2020, the average list price in Montana was $349,000. Six years later, the typical home costs $612,000, an increase of about 75%.
“Montana’s price growth is more than double the national growth over the same period,” Jones added.
Over the past six years, Montana has seen the most extreme increase in listing prices of any U.S. state, she says. Only Vermont has seen faster price-per-square-foot growth than Montana since 2020: 84.6% compared to 82.7%.
According to Jones, average listing prices have increased the most since 2020 in Deer Lodge (+303%), Columbia Falls (+224.2%), Roundup (+177.4%) and Big Sky (+131.9%).
Heiland admits that some local residents have been forced to leave the state because they could no longer afford it. However, he says he is very optimistic about how that will change.
“The majority of my clients are now first-time homebuyers, which is the first time in seven years,” says Heiland. “They have been saving, they want to be here and they are ready to pull the trigger.”
