Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0Households in Deer Lodge earn less than those in 74% of U.S. towns
Deer Lodge grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. The poverty rate is 7.2%, where Montana as a whole has 11.5%. About one in three stay in Deer Lodge for work; outside it, Butte-Silver Bow is the main destination (8%, 35 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Deer Lodge apart on work
Deer Lodge’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Deer Lodge is Butte-Silver Bow, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (82) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Deer Lodge are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. Time on the road ↓
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 997 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Deer Lodge’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Deer Lodge is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #28 of 42 in Montana. The poverty rate holds Deer Lodge’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Deer Lodge could be anywhere from D to B+.
Short hops and long hauls from Deer Lodge
About 24% 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.
The trip to work from Deer Lodge: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Deer Lodge workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,125 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Deer Lodge
On a workday 686 residents head out to work, 311 work right here, and 776 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 (1.09 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.
Out of Deer Lodge to work: where people go
Where Deer Lodge clocks in
8% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
What the 1,087 jobs in Deer Lodge are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Deer Lodge, 2013 → 2023: 940 → 1,087. 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 Deer Lodge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Deer Lodge is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Deer Lodge is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #22 of 42 in Montana. Both inputs place Deer Lodge near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,187 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). 3.9% of Deer Lodge households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Deer Lodge’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Deer Lodge ranks: 2,981st of 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 958 | Big Sky MT | 2,445 | $139K | 4.7% | 1.4% | 68% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,144 | Montana City MT | 3,092 | $130K | 1.8% | 3.9% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,622 | Glasgow MT | 3,145 | $90K | 8.0% | 0.5% | 52% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,979 | Carlton NY | 2,793 | $82K | 11.7% | 5.3% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,980 | Demorest GA | 2,262 | $78K | 10.9% | 7.4% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,981 | Deer Lodge MT | 3,025 | $60K | 7.2% | 3.3% | 31% | C+ |
| 2,982 | Lima Township IN | 2,453 | $74K | 8.3% | 9.5% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,983 | Soda Springs ID | 3,165 | $57K | 12.0% | 1.0% | 40% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Deer Lodge, 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 Deer Lodge: questions
What is the median household income in Deer Lodge?
$60,302 (±$20,558) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Deer Lodge?
7.2%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Deer Lodge?
14 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Deer Lodge work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Butte-Silver Bow (8%, 35 mi), Helena (7%, 37 mi), Missoula (4%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Deer Lodge walkable?
Deer Lodge is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Deer Lodge without a car?
1% 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 Deer Lodge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Deer Lodge
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.