Carlton Community Church · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0For more than half of its working residents, Carlton is a commute to Missoula
For 5% of workers, the job is at home, next to 12% for Montana as a whole. Hardly any stay in Carlton for work; outside it, Missoula is the main destination (58%, 13 miles). Working residents average 54 minutes each way (Montana 19, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Carlton: the figures worth knowing
Carlton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 54 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana. Over a year that’s about 414 hours of commuting, 268 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
More than half of Carlton works in Missoula
179 working residents, 58%, have their main job in Missoula, 13 miles away. That’s far more as work in Carlton itself. The commute map ↓
Carlton is a place people come home to
There are 52 jobs based in Carlton, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Carlton has about 430 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 307 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
About 54 minutes to work from Carlton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 17.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carlton workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 476 commuters (the 5% 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 the trip to work from Carlton ends
Where Carlton clocks in
58% of workers
7% 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.
How a workday changes Carlton
On a workday 307 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 52 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in Carlton on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.17 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 kinds of work in Carlton
52 jobs are based in Carlton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carlton, 2013 → 2023: 58 → 52. 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 Carlton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Carlton
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 Carlton: questions
What is the median household income in Carlton?
$107,155 (±$73,714) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carlton?
7.3%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carlton?
54 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carlton work?
0% work in town.
Can you get around Carlton 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 Carlton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carlton
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.