Work & commute · Chinook

Work & commute in Chinook, MT

About one in 3 of Chinook’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Havre (10%), Harlem (3%) and Missoula (3%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

36%

117 of 321 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

11 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 204 Chinook residents head out of town to work, 117 work right here, and 292 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chinook.

204live here, work elsewhere

117live and work here

292work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chinook goes to work

Chinook (in town)right here

36%117

Havre20.7 mi away

10%32

Harlem20.8 mi away

3%11

Missoula252.3 mi away

3%10

Great Falls121.5 mi away

2%8

Bozeman218.4 mi away

2%7

Billings196.2 mi away

2%6

Conrad127.8 mi away

1%4

Miles City218.7 mi away

1%3

Lewistown106.8 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%120

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

How far

How far Chinook commutes

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

51%

23%

51%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chinook is balanced between jobs and homes

1.27jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Chinook are

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

Jobs based in Chinook

409 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Chinook residents hold

321 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month47%

−20%

Jobs based in Chinook, 2013 → 2023: 511 → 409. 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.