Making a living in Arlee
Working residents average 27 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. About one in ten stay in Arlee for work; outside it, Missoula is the main destination (29%, 20 miles). Employers in Arlee report 220 jobs for 228 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Arlee: the figures worth knowing
Arlee and Missoula trade workers both ways
Missoula is the top workplace for Arlee residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Arlee come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Arlee workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 228 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where the trip to work from Arlee ends
Where Arlee clocks in
29% of workers
15% 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.
About 27 minutes each way for Arlee’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arlee workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 292 commuters (the 18% 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.
Arlee on a workday afternoon
On a workday 203 residents head out to work, 25 work right here, and 195 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 (0.96 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.
In Arlee, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arlee, 2013 → 2023: 192 → 220. 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 Arlee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Arlee commutes
About 15% 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 Arlee: questions
What is the median household income in Arlee?
$57,500 (±$18,005) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arlee?
13.3%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arlee?
27 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arlee work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Missoula (29%, 20 mi), Polson (15%, 36 mi), Wye (3%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Arlee without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arlee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arlee
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.