Work & commute · Columbus

Work & commute in Columbus, MT

About one in 3 of Columbus’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Billings (19%), Helena (2%) and Bozeman (2%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

36%

290 of 809 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 519 Columbus residents head out of town to work, 290 work right here, and 1,129 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Columbus.

519live here, work elsewhere

290live and work here

1,129work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Columbus goes to work

Columbus (in town)right here

36%290

Billings35.2 mi away

19%153

Helena148.3 mi away

2%15

Bozeman87.2 mi away

2%14

Laurel22.9 mi away

1%12

Absarokee12.5 mi away

1%12

Red Lodge30.6 mi away

1%9

Big Timber36.4 mi away

1%8

Lockwood43.2 mi away

1%8

Park City15.6 mi away

1%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%282

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

How far

How far Columbus commutes

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

45%

35%

14%

45%Under 10 mi

6%10–24 mi

35%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Columbus is a job hub

1.75jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Columbus are

1,419 jobs are based in Columbus. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Columbus’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Columbus

1,419 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Columbus residents hold

809 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+7%

Jobs based in Columbus, 2013 → 2023: 1,330 → 1,419. 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.