Photo: Mitchell O'Brien · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Columbia Falls (5.6%) than in 69% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Columbia Falls; the top destination outside it is Kalispell (21%, 12 miles). Columbia Falls grades C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Columbia Falls, in brief
Columbia Falls trades workers with the towns around it
Columbia Falls has about as many jobs (2,326) as working residents (2,164), but they are mostly different people: 1,794 residents leave for work each day while 1,956 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Columbia Falls are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Columbia Falls and Kalispell trade workers both ways
Kalispell is the top workplace for Columbia Falls residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Columbia Falls come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Columbia Falls’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Columbia Falls is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #32 of 42 in Montana. Household income holds Columbia Falls’ grade up ($75,766, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Columbia Falls could be anywhere from D to B+.
Columbia Falls on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,794 residents head out to work, 370 work right here, and 1,956 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 (1.07 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.
Commuting out of Columbia Falls: the destinations
Where Columbia Falls clocks in
12% 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.
The 2,326 jobs based in Columbia Falls
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbia Falls, 2013 → 2023: 1,855 → 2,326. 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 Columbia Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 20 minutes to work from Columbia Falls
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbia Falls workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,485 commuters (the 15% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Columbia Falls
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.
Getting around Columbia Falls: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Columbia Falls is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #28 of 42 in Montana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 6.3% across Montana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,916 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.3% of Columbia Falls households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Columbia Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
Columbia Falls is 2,687th of 3,527 U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,800 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 734 | Helena Valley Northeast MT | 4,659 | $141K | 5.2% | 1.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 745 | Four Corners MT | 5,791 | $101K | 6.3% | 0.5% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 861 | Lolo MT | 4,314 | $86K | 5.3% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,685 | Lakehills TX | 6,130 | $90K | 12.4% | 8.8% | 2% | C |
| 2,686 | Harlan IA | 4,859 | $57K | 9.1% | 4.8% | 45% | C |
| 2,687 | Columbia Falls MT | 5,753 | $76K | 15.2% | 5.6% | 17% | C |
| 2,688 | Battlement Mesa CO | 5,755 | $76K | 11.0% | 4.9% | 5% | C |
| 2,689 | Jackson OH | 6,233 | $54K | 18.7% | 2.8% | 30% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,527 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Columbia Falls, the top three, the last and three more from Montana.
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 Columbia Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Columbia Falls?
$75,766 (±$17,198) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbia Falls?
15.2%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbia Falls?
20 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbia Falls work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kalispell (21%, 12 mi), Whitefish (12%, 8 mi), Evergreen (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Columbia Falls walkable?
Columbia Falls is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Columbia Falls without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Columbia Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Columbia Falls
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.