Lee Creek Snowshoe Cabin · Photo: National Park Service inventory · Public domainBabb has 5.6 jobs for every working resident: 219 people commute in to work
220 jobs are based in Babb for 39 working residents. Only 3% work in Babb; the top destination outside it is Browning (28%, 30 miles). For 23% of workers, the job is at home, against 12% across Montana.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily commute in and out of Babb
On a workday 38 residents head out to work and 1 work right here.
About 400 people are in Babb on a workday afternoon, 81% more than live here.
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 towns that send workers to Babb
Where Babb clocks in
28% of workers
26% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Babb, 2013 → 2023: 26 → 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 Babb’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Babb
of Babb workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 57 commuters (the 23% 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.
Babb’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 Babb: questions
What is the poverty rate in Babb?
15.7%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Babb work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Browning (28%, 30 mi), East Glacier Park Village (26%, 32 mi), South Browning (10%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Babb 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 Babb, from the people who make the trip.
More of Babb
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.