Work & commute · Townsend

Work & commute in Townsend, MT

About one in 4 of Townsend’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Helena (16%), Bozeman (7%) and Wheatland (4%). Half commute less than 31 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24%

194 of 818 working residents

Typical commute

31 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 624 Townsend residents head out of town to work, 194 work right here, and 428 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Townsend.

624live here, work elsewhere

194live and work here

428work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Townsend goes to work

Townsend (in town)right here

24%194

Helena30.5 mi away

16%131

Bozeman49.3 mi away

7%61

Wheatland24.8 mi away

4%32

Missoula125 mi away

3%26

Billings146.9 mi away

2%20

Belgrade40.5 mi away

2%18

Great Falls82.4 mi away

2%17

Three Forks29.7 mi away

1%10

Helena West Side34.3 mi away

1%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%299

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

How far

How far Townsend commutes

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

28%

40%

27%

28%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

40%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Townsend is balanced between jobs and homes

0.76jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Townsend are

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

Jobs based in Townsend

622 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Townsend residents hold

818 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+7%

Jobs based in Townsend, 2013 → 2023: 582 → 622. 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.