Cedarvale · Photo: National Park Service · Public domainJobs, pay and the trip to work in Fort Smith
Only 6% work in Fort Smith itself; outside it, Billings draws the most (26%, 44 miles). For 0% of workers, the job is at home, against 12% across Montana. Fort Smith has 82 jobs, against 54 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fort Smith on a workday afternoon
On a workday 51 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 79 people come in from elsewhere.
About 110 people are in Fort Smith on a workday afternoon, 36% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Who travels to work in Fort Smith, and from where
Where Fort Smith clocks in
26% of workers
17% 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 Fort Smith are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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 Fort Smith’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Fort Smith
of Fort Smith workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20 commuters (the 0% 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 far it is to work from Fort Smith
About 22% 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 Fort Smith: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Smith?
$51,190 (±$10,338) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Smith?
0.0%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Fort Smith work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Billings (26%, 44 mi), Hardin (17%, 34 mi), Crow Agency (15%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fort Smith without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 25% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Smith, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Smith
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.