Work & commute · Whitefish

Work & commute in Whitefish, MT

About one in 3 of Whitefish’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Kalispell (16%), Missoula (4%) and Columbia Falls (3%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

37%

1,279 of 3,466 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,187 Whitefish residents head out of town to work, 1,279 work right here, and 4,174 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Whitefish.

2,187live here, work elsewhere

1,279live and work here

4,174work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Whitefish goes to work

Whitefish (in town)right here

37%1,279

Kalispell15.3 mi away

16%549

Missoula109 mi away

4%134

Columbia Falls8.4 mi away

3%97

Evergreen14.8 mi away

2%83

Hungry Horse13.4 mi away

2%59

Billings328.1 mi away

1%41

Helena167.3 mi away

1%30

Great Falls155 mi away

1%30

Bozeman245.4 mi away

1%25

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%1,139

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

How far

How far Whitefish commutes

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

56%

26%

16%

56%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Whitefish is a job hub

1.57jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Whitefish are

5,453 jobs are based in Whitefish. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Whitefish’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Whitefish

5,453 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Whitefish residents hold

3,466 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+36%

Jobs based in Whitefish, 2013 → 2023: 4,011 → 5,453. 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.