Work & commute · Columbia Falls

Work & commute in Columbia Falls, MT

Most working residents leave Columbia Falls for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Kalispell (21%), Whitefish (12%) and Evergreen (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

370 of 2,164 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,794 Columbia Falls residents head out of town to work, 370 work right here, and 1,956 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Columbia Falls.

1,794live here, work elsewhere

370live and work here

1,956work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Columbia Falls goes to work

Kalispell12.4 mi away

21%457

Columbia Falls (in town)right here

17%370

Whitefish8.4 mi away

12%260

Evergreen10.5 mi away

4%85

Missoula103.7 mi away

4%77

Hungry Horse5.9 mi away

3%61

Helena159.2 mi away

2%34

Bozeman237.4 mi away

1%26

Helena Flats6.7 mi away

1%21

Martin City7.6 mi away

1%17

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%756

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

How far

How far Columbia Falls commutes

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

49%

34%

15%

49%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Columbia Falls is balanced between jobs and homes

1.07jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Columbia Falls are

2,326 jobs are based in Columbia Falls. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Columbia Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Columbia Falls

2,326 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Columbia Falls residents hold

2,164 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+25%

Jobs based in Columbia Falls, 2013 → 2023: 1,855 → 2,326. 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.