Work & commute · Helena West Side

Work & commute in Helena West Side, MT

Most working residents leave Helena West Side for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Helena (57%), Missoula (4%) and Bozeman (4%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

48 of 628 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 580 Helena West Side residents head out of town to work, 48 work right here, and 2,198 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Helena West Side.

580live here, work elsewhere

48live and work here

2,198work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Helena West Side goes to work

Helena4.6 mi away

57%359

Helena West Side (in town)right here

8%48

Missoula92.4 mi away

4%27

Bozeman81.1 mi away

4%23

Helena Valley West Central5.2 mi away

4%23

Great Falls73.5 mi away

3%16

Montana City10 mi away

2%10

Billings179.3 mi away

1%9

Helena Valley Southeast10.4 mi away

1%9

Boulder24.9 mi away

1%4

Everywhere elseother towns and states

16%100

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

How far

How far Helena West Side commutes

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

74%

20%

74%Under 10 mi

2%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Helena West Side is a job hub

3.58jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Helena West Side are

2,246 jobs are based in Helena West Side. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Helena West Side’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Helena West Side

2,246 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month11%

Over $3,333 a month83%

Jobs Helena West Side residents hold

628 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+207%

Jobs based in Helena West Side, 2013 → 2023: 732 → 2,246. 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.