Bearcreek Bank · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0Bearcreek has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
About one in ten work in Bearcreek; the top destination outside it is Red Lodge (26%, 5 miles). There are 24 jobs in Bearcreek, against 43 working residents. A typical one-way commute lasts 34 minutes, where Montana has 19 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bearcreek on a workday afternoon
On a workday 39 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 20 people come in from elsewhere.
About 87 people are in Bearcreek on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer 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.
Where the trip to work from Bearcreek ends
Where Bearcreek clocks in
26% of workers
14% of workers
5% 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.
58% of the jobs in Bearcreek make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bearcreek, 2013 → 2023: 17 → 24. 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 Bearcreek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of Montana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bearcreek workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 67 commuters (the 12% 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.
Where in the region Bearcreek works
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.
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 Bearcreek: questions
What is the median household income in Bearcreek?
$115,000 (±$49,023) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bearcreek?
3.4%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bearcreek?
34 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bearcreek work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Red Lodge (26%, 5 mi), Billings (14%, 52 mi), Fromberg (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bearcreek without a car?
15% 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 Bearcreek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bearcreek
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.