Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in Fairfield, MT
A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes, where Montana has 19 and the U.S. 26. About one in five stay in Fairfield for work; outside it, Great Falls is the main destination (20%, 33 miles). Employers in Fairfield report 354 jobs, against 241 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Fairfield: the figures worth knowing
The commute from Fairfield, by distance
About 27% 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.
How a workday changes Fairfield
On a workday 191 residents head out to work, 50 work right here, and 304 people come in from elsewhere.
About 910 people are in Fairfield on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.47 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 Fairfield goes to work
Where Fairfield clocks in
20% of workers
7% 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.
In Fairfield, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairfield, 2013 → 2023: 293 → 354. 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 Fairfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Fairfield: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 343 commuters (the 17% 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.
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 Fairfield: questions
What is the median household income in Fairfield?
$69,265 (±$15,494) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairfield?
5.2%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairfield?
20 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairfield work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Great Falls (20%, 33 mi), Choteau (7%, 16 mi), Helena (5%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fairfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairfield
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.