Work & commute · Fairfield

Work & commute in Fairfield, MT

About one in 5 of Fairfield’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Great Falls (20%), Choteau (7%) and Helena (5%). Half commute less than 31 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

21%

50 of 241 working residents

Typical commute

31 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 191 Fairfield residents head out of town to work, 50 work right here, and 304 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fairfield.

191live here, work elsewhere

50live and work here

304work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fairfield goes to work

Fairfield (in town)right here

21%50

Great Falls32.7 mi away

20%47

Choteau16.5 mi away

7%16

Helena70.5 mi away

5%13

Missoula108.7 mi away

3%7

Kalispell116.3 mi away

2%5

Bozeman140.6 mi away

2%5

Billings205.7 mi away

2%5

Conrad38.6 mi away

1%3

Black Eagle34.2 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%87

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

How far

How far Fairfield commutes

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

34%

13%

26%

27%

34%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fairfield is balanced between jobs and homes

1.47jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Fairfield are

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

Jobs based in Fairfield

354 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Fairfield residents hold

241 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+21%

Jobs based in Fairfield, 2013 → 2023: 293 → 354. 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.