Work & commute · Melstone

Work & commute in Melstone, MT

Most working residents leave Melstone for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Billings (34%), Roundup (10%) and Bozeman (5%). Half commute less than 64 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

4 of 41 working residents

Typical commute

64 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 37 Melstone residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Melstone.

37live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

57work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Melstone goes to work

Billings64.8 mi away

34%14

Melstone (in town)right here

10%4

Roundup33.6 mi away

10%4

Bozeman165.1 mi away

5%2

Harlowton94.2 mi away

2%1

Circle121.5 mi away

2%1

Laurel77.3 mi away

2%1

Ray, ND250 mi away

2%1

Cody, WY154.6 mi away

2%1

Stony Creek, ND227.6 mi away

2%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%11

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

How far

How far Melstone commutes

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

10%

20%

71%

10%Under 10 mi

0%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

71%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Melstone is balanced between jobs and homes

1.49jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Melstone are

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

Jobs based in Melstone

61 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Melstone residents hold

41 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less32%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+281%

Jobs based in Melstone, 2013 → 2023: 16 → 61. 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.