Work & commute · Laurel

Work & commute in Laurel, MT

Most working residents leave Laurel for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Billings (48%), Lockwood (2%) and Helena (2%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

618 of 3,514 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 2,896 Laurel residents head out of town to work, 618 work right here, and 1,796 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Laurel.

2,896live here, work elsewhere

618live and work here

1,796work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Laurel goes to work

Billings13.4 mi away

48%1,698

Laurel (in town)right here

18%618

Lockwood21.3 mi away

2%58

Helena167.8 mi away

2%55

Columbus22.9 mi away

1%49

Missoula264 mi away

1%48

Bozeman109.9 mi away

1%45

Great Falls174.1 mi away

1%26

Kalispell315.2 mi away

1%20

Big Timber57.6 mi away

0%11

Everywhere elseother towns and states

25%886

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

How far

How far Laurel commutes

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

33%

50%

15%

33%Under 10 mi

50%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Laurel is a commuter town

0.69jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Laurel are

2,414 jobs are based in Laurel. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Laurel’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Laurel

2,414 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Laurel residents hold

3,514 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+11%

Jobs based in Laurel, 2013 → 2023: 2,182 → 2,414. 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.