Work & commute · Sunburst

Work & commute in Sunburst, MT

About one in 5 of Sunburst’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Sweet Grass (14%), Shelby (13%) and Great Falls (7%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

21%

19 of 91 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

12 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 72 Sunburst residents head out of town to work, 19 work right here, and 74 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sunburst.

72live here, work elsewhere

19live and work here

74work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sunburst goes to work

Sunburst (in town)right here

21%19

Sweet Grass8.7 mi away

14%13

Shelby25.7 mi away

13%12

Great Falls98.7 mi away

7%6

Billings264.6 mi away

4%4

Chester49.5 mi away

3%3

Missoula169.7 mi away

3%3

Kevin9.3 mi away

1%1

Thompson Falls181.2 mi away

1%1

Hamilton209.5 mi away

1%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%28

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

How far

How far Sunburst commutes

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

47%

15%

31%

47%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sunburst is balanced between jobs and homes

1.02jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Sunburst are

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

Jobs based in Sunburst

93 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Sunburst residents hold

91 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities37%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−36%

Jobs based in Sunburst, 2013 → 2023: 145 → 93. 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.