Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0Where Big Sandy earns its living
The average commute takes 17 minutes each way; Montana averages 19, the U.S. 26. About one in ten work in Big Sandy itself; outside it, Fort Benton draws the most (10%, 35 miles). Employers in Big Sandy report 170 jobs, and 166 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 151 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 155 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 (1.02 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.
Where Big Sandy goes to work
Where Big Sandy clocks in
10% of workers
10% 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.
Most jobs in Big Sandy are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Sandy, 2013 → 2023: 181 → 170. 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 Big Sandy’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Big Sandy: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Big Sandy workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 252 commuters (the 14% 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 many miles Big Sandy commutes
About 42% 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 Big Sandy: questions
What is the median household income in Big Sandy?
$60,521 (±$16,173) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Sandy?
8.5%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Sandy?
17 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Sandy work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Benton (10%, 35 mi), Great Falls (10%, 72 mi), Geraldine (5%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Big Sandy without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Big Sandy, from the people who make the trip.
More of Big Sandy
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.