Work & commute · East Helena

Work & commute in East Helena, MT

Most working residents leave East Helena for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Helena (53%), Helena West Side (5%) and Bozeman (3%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

60 of 1,025 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 965 East Helena residents head out of town to work, 60 work right here, and 1,028 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in East Helena.

965live here, work elsewhere

60live and work here

1,028work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where East Helena goes to work

Helena4.7 mi away

53%547

East Helena (in town)right here

6%60

Helena West Side9.3 mi away

5%54

Bozeman74.9 mi away

3%33

Helena Valley Southeast2.8 mi away

3%30

Great Falls69.9 mi away

3%28

Billings170.2 mi away

2%23

Helena Valley West Central8.5 mi away

2%22

Missoula101.7 mi away

2%20

Montana City4.2 mi away

2%19

Everywhere elseother towns and states

18%189

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

How far

How far East Helena commutes

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

74%

22%

74%Under 10 mi

2%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

East Helena is balanced between jobs and homes

1.06jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in East Helena are

1,088 jobs are based in East Helena. Here is what they are, next to the jobs East Helena’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in East Helena

1,088 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)88%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs East Helena residents hold

1,025 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−37%

Jobs based in East Helena, 2013 → 2023: 1,731 → 1,088. 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.