Work & commute · Boulder

Work & commute in Boulder, MT

Most working residents leave Boulder for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Helena (32%), Montana City (10%) and Bozeman (5%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12 of 425 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 413 Boulder residents head out of town to work, 12 work right here, and 238 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Boulder.

413live here, work elsewhere

12live and work here

238work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Boulder goes to work

Helena25.3 mi away

32%138

Montana City21.8 mi away

10%42

Bozeman63.9 mi away

5%22

Clancy15.8 mi away

5%21

Billings173.9 mi away

4%15

Boulder (in town)right here

3%12

Great Falls95.7 mi away

3%11

Helena West Side24.9 mi away

3%11

Missoula100.7 mi away

2%9

Helena Valley West Central29.5 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%139

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

How far

How far Boulder commutes

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

35%

31%

27%

7%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

31%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Boulder is a commuter town

0.59jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Boulder are

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

Jobs based in Boulder

250 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less26%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month44%

Jobs Boulder residents hold

425 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month54%

−47%

Jobs based in Boulder, 2013 → 2023: 476 → 250. 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.