Photo: Original photo by National Park Service, edited by Shannon · Public domainHow Clark Fork works: jobs, income and commuting
A typical one-way commute lasts 18 minutes, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. About one in ten work in Clark Fork itself; outside it, Sandpoint draws the most (20%, 20 miles). Employers in Clark Fork report 182 jobs; 152 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Clark Fork on a workday
On a workday 135 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 165 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.20 per resident).
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 places Clark Fork commutes to
Where Clark Fork clocks in
20% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Clark Fork
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clark Fork, 2013 → 2023: 84 → 182. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Clark Fork’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Clark Fork’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clark Fork workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 323 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Clark Fork’s commute, mile by mile
About 18% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Clark Fork: questions
What is the median household income in Clark Fork?
$63,813 (±$31,163) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clark Fork?
23.4%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clark Fork?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clark Fork work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sandpoint (20%, 20 mi), Ponderay (9%, 20 mi), Coeur d'Alene (3%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Clark Fork without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clark Fork, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clark Fork
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.