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Antique Shop in Alberton, MontanaPhoto: Appyranch · CC BY-SA 3.0
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Jobs & commute in Alberton

Jobs and earnings in Alberton, and the trip to work

Alberton has 134 jobs; 170 of its residents have a job. Only 6% work in Alberton; the top destination outside it is Missoula (22%, 24 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 33 minutes, next to 19 for Montana and 26 for the U.S.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 160 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 124 people come in from elsewhere.

160live here, work elsewhere
10live and work here
124work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night550
Workday520
550live here− 160head out to work+ 120come in to work= 520on a workday

About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.79jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 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 commute map

Commuting out of Alberton: the destinations

MoscowAlbertonSt. IgnatiusPlainsSuperior: 32 residents work here (19%)Hamilton: 3 residents work here (2%)Kalispell: 4 residents work here (2%)Helena: 5 residents work here (3%)BozemanMissoula: 37 residents work here (22%)Billings: 6 residents work here (4%)Seattle: 2 residents work here (1%)Butte-Silver Bow: 2 residents work here (1%)St. Regis: 6 residents work here (4%)RiverbendMissoulaSuperiorBillingsSt. RegisHelenaKalispellAlberton
1
Missoula23.5 mi away
22%37
2
Superior23.6 mi away
19%32
3
Alberton (in town)right here
6%10
4
Billings294.8 mi away
4%6
5
St. Regis35.7 mi away
4%6
6
Helena120 mi away
3%5
7
Kalispell84 mi away
2%4
8
Hamilton54.2 mi away
2%3
9
Seattle, WA370.8 mi away
1%2
10
Butte-Silver Bow115.8 mi away
1%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
37%63
The top trips

Where Alberton clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Alberton

Jobs based in AlbertonJobs Alberton residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms1%17%
Trade, transport & utilities10%25%
Services: health, schools, offices88%58%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less34%24%
$1,251–$3,333 a month34%26%
Over $3,333 a month32%51%

Who does it

29 or younger28%21%
30 to 5449%52%
55 and older24%27%
+19%

Jobs based in Alberton, 2013 → 2023: 113 → 134. 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 Alberton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

Getting to work from Alberton takes about 33 minutes

A year of commuting
251 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Alberton33 min
Montana19 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
10%

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

About 1 in 10
How Alberton gets to work
86%Drive alone
6%Carpool
5%Walk
4%Other

Share of the 276 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Montana: 81% 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.

How far

The commute from Alberton, by distance

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miMissoula: 22% · 23.5 miSuperior: 19% · 23.6 miBillings: 4% · 294.8 miSt. Regis: 4% · 35.7 miHelena: 3% · 120 miKalispell: 2% · 84 miHamilton: 2% · 54.2 miSeattle: 1% · 370.8 miButte-Silver Bow: 1% · 115.8 miMissoula 22%Superior 19%Billings 4%St. Regis 4%Alberton
AlbertonTop destinations (size = commuters)
8%Under 10 mi13 residents
54%10–24 mi92 residents
10%25–50 mi17 residents
28%Over 50 mi48 residents

About 28% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Alberton: questions

What is the median household income in Alberton?

$60,000 (±$13,519) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Alberton?

16.1%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Alberton?

33 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Alberton work?

6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Missoula (22%, 24 mi), Superior (19%, 24 mi), Billings (4%, 295 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Alberton without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Alberton

Alberton home →

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.