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Work & commute in Whitewater · A job hub

Every workday, about 120 people come to Whitewater for work

Most working residents leave Whitewater for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Malta (45%), Glasgow (5%) and Lewistown (5%). Half commute less than 30 miles.

Work in town
15%
3 of 20 working residents
Typical commute
30 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
12 min
Less than MT (19 min)
Work from home
0%
Less than MT (13%)
Jobs based here
119
A job hub

What kind of work town is Whitewater?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Day and night

Whitewater nearly doubles on a workday

On a workday 17 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 116 people come in from elsewhere.

17live here, work elsewhere
3live and work here
116work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night110
Workday200
110live here− 17head out to work+ 120come in to work= 200on a workday

About 200 people are in Whitewater on a workday afternoon, 94% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
5.95jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

Where Whitewater’s workers come from

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Dodson: 3 workers live here (3%)Saco: 5 workers live here (4%)Malta: 35 workers live here (29%)GlasgowLewistownHelenaGreat Falls: 4 workers live here (3%)Missoula: 3 workers live here (3%)Billings: 2 workers live here (2%)Sleeping Buffalo: 3 workers live here (3%)East Malta Colony: 3 workers live here (3%)WhitewaterZortman: 3 workers live here (3%)EvergreenMaltaSacoGreat FallsDodsonMissoulaSleeping BuffaloWhitewater
1
Malta30.2 mi away
29%35
2
Saco24.9 mi away
4%5
3
Great Falls190.3 mi away
3%4
4
Dodson38 mi away
3%3
5
Missoula324 mi away
3%3
6
Sleeping Buffalo19.9 mi away
3%3
7
East Malta Colony28.5 mi away
3%3
8
Whitewater (in town)right here
3%3
9
Zortman71.1 mi away
3%3
10
Billings210 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
46%55
The top trips

Where Whitewater clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 12 minutes each way, quicker than most of Montana

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
89 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Whitewater12 min
Montana19 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
0%

of Whitewater workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How far

Half of Whitewater commutes less than 30 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miMalta: 45% · 30.2 miGlasgow: 5% · 60.1 miLewistown: 5% · 145.3 miHelena: 5% · 253.1 miEvergreen: 5% · 306.2 miMalta 45%Glasgow 5%Lewistown 5%Evergreen 5%Whitewater
WhitewaterTop destinations (size = commuters)
15%Under 10 mi3 residents
5%10–24 mi1 residents
50%25–50 mi10 residents
30%Over 50 mi6 residents

About 30% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

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

Jobs based in WhitewaterJobs Whitewater residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%15%
Trade, transport & utilities0%40%
Services: health, schools, offices100%45%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less19%35%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%40%
Over $3,333 a month52%25%

Who does it

29 or younger14%20%
30 to 5455%45%
55 and older30%35%
+133%

Jobs based in Whitewater, 2013 → 2023: 51 → 119. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Whitewater

Whitewater home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Whitewater, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Whitewater worth it?

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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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