Work & commute · Billings

Work & commute in Billings, MT

74% of Billings’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Lockwood (2%), Missoula (2%) and Bozeman (1%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

74%

42,252 of 57,438 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 15,186 Billings residents head out of town to work, 42,252 work right here, and 27,531 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Billings.

15,186live here, work elsewhere

42,252live and work here

27,531work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Billings goes to work

Billings (in town)right here

74%42,252

Lockwood8 mi away

2%1,434

Missoula271.6 mi away

2%884

Bozeman120.9 mi away

1%836

Laurel13.4 mi away

1%702

Helena174.9 mi away

1%699

Great Falls176.1 mi away

1%532

Hardin45.6 mi away

1%291

Columbus35.2 mi away

0%216

Kalispell319.5 mi away

0%212

Everywhere elseother towns and states

16%9,380

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Billings commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

82%

13%

82%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Billings is balanced between jobs and homes

1.21jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Billings are

69,783 jobs are based in Billings. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Billings’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Billings

69,783 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Billings residents hold

57,438 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+11%

Jobs based in Billings, 2013 → 2023: 62,661 → 69,783. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.