Work & commute · Shepherd

Work & commute in Shepherd, MT

Most working residents leave Shepherd for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Billings (59%), Lockwood (5%) and Helena (2%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

7 of 241 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

33%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 234 Shepherd residents head out of town to work, 7 work right here, and 154 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Shepherd.

234live here, work elsewhere

7live and work here

154work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Shepherd goes to work

Billings14.8 mi away

59%143

Lockwood8.4 mi away

5%13

Shepherd (in town)right here

3%7

Helena181 mi away

2%5

Laurel28 mi away

2%4

Missoula278 mi away

1%3

Kalispell322 mi away

1%2

Bozeman131.7 mi away

1%2

Los Angeles, CA979.6 mi away

0%1

Red Lodge68 mi away

0%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

25%60

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

How far

How far Shepherd commutes

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

17%

68%

17%Under 10 mi

68%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Shepherd is a commuter town

0.67jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Shepherd are

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

Jobs based in Shepherd

161 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities2%

Services (health, schools, offices…)96%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Shepherd residents hold

241 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

−21%

Jobs based in Shepherd, 2013 → 2023: 205 → 161. 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.