Work & commute · Plains

Work & commute in Plains, MT

41% of Plains’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Missoula (6%), Thompson Falls (4%) and Kalispell (3%). Half commute less than 2 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

41%

151 of 372 working residents

Typical commute

2 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 221 Plains residents head out of town to work, 151 work right here, and 709 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plains.

221live here, work elsewhere

151live and work here

709work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plains goes to work

Plains (in town)right here

41%151

Missoula57.1 mi away

6%23

Thompson Falls23.4 mi away

4%15

Kalispell58.3 mi away

3%11

Helena147.6 mi away

2%6

Hot Springs14.4 mi away

1%5

Bozeman219.5 mi away

1%4

Billings321.8 mi away

1%4

St. Maries, ID79.6 mi away

1%3

Weeksville7.6 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%147

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

How far

How far Plains commutes

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

58%

28%

58%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plains is a job hub

2.31jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Plains are

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

Jobs based in Plains

860 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month40%

Jobs Plains residents hold

372 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month44%

+52%

Jobs based in Plains, 2013 → 2023: 564 → 860. 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.