Jobs and earnings in Fortine, and the trip to work
Only 4% work in Fortine; the top destination outside it is Eureka (23%, 11 miles). For 29% of workers, the job is at home; Montana has 12%. Working residents average 58 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Fortine, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 107 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 109 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 (1.02 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 Fortine’s working residents head each day
Where Fortine clocks in
23% of workers
5% 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 114 jobs in Fortine are
114 jobs are based in Fortine.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fortine, 2013 → 2023: 39 → 114. 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 Fortine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Fortine takes about 58 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 18.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fortine workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 76 commuters (the 29% 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 in the region Fortine works
About 21% 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 Fortine: questions
What is the median household income in Fortine?
$66,402 (±$2,329) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fortine?
18.8%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fortine?
58 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fortine work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eureka (23%, 11 mi), Missoula (5%, 137 mi), Whitefish (4%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fortine 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 Fortine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fortine
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.