Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Fox Lake
Only 6% stay in Fox Lake for work; outside it, Sidney is the main destination (34%, 22 miles). 0% of workers work from home; Montana has 12%. A typical one-way commute lasts 30 minutes; Montana averages 19, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Fox Lake, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 82 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 55 people come in from elsewhere.
About 120 people are in Fox Lake on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where people from Fox Lake work
Where Fox Lake clocks in
34% 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.
What Fox Lake’s employers do
60 jobs are based in Fox Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fox Lake, 2013 → 2023: 151 → 60. 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 Fox Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 30 minutes each way for Fox Lake’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fox Lake workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 73 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.
The commute from Fox Lake, by distance
About 26% 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 Fox Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Fox Lake?
$83,333 (±$23,760) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fox Lake?
2.7%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fox Lake?
30 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fox Lake work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sidney (34%, 22 mi), Savage (9%, 21 mi), Glendive (5%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fox Lake 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 Fox Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fox Lake
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.