Work & commute · Custer

Work & commute in Custer, MT

Most working residents leave Custer for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Billings (43%), Worden (8%) and Hardin (4%). Half commute less than 52 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 53 working residents

Typical commute

52 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 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 52 Custer residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Custer.

52live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

40work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Custer goes to work

Billings53.4 mi away

43%23

Worden31.3 mi away

8%4

Hardin26.9 mi away

4%2

Denver, CO460.2 mi away

2%1

Forsyth43.3 mi away

2%1

Roundup51.9 mi away

2%1

Laurel66.6 mi away

2%1

Helena215.2 mi away

2%1

Great Falls200.8 mi away

2%1

Dickinson, ND232.3 mi away

2%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%17

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

How far

How far Custer commutes

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

32%

66%

2%Under 10 mi

0%10–24 mi

32%25–50 mi

66%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Custer is balanced between jobs and homes

0.77jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Custer are

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

Jobs based in Custer

41 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less29%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Custer residents hold

53 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+8%

Jobs based in Custer, 2013 → 2023: 38 → 41. 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.