Photo: Itsa Ortiz · CC BY 2.0Hamilton has 2.9 jobs for every working resident: 4,795 people commute in to work
Hamilton grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Employers in Hamilton report 5,666 jobs; 1,921 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, Hamilton is behind 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Hamilton
Hamilton is where the jobs are
Hamilton has 5,666 jobs, 3.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 9,200 people are in town, 69% more than the 5,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Hamilton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hamilton is Missoula, 43 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (178) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Hamilton draws workers from far and wide
The 5,666 jobs in Hamilton are filled from a wide area. Hamilton’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 15%; the other 70% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Hamilton are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Hamilton workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Montana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Where Hamilton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hamilton is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #22 of 42 in Montana. Unemployment holds Hamilton’s grade up (2.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,204, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hamilton could be anywhere from C− to B.
Hamilton by day and by night
On a workday 1,050 residents head out to work and 871 work right here.
About 9,200 people are in Hamilton on a workday afternoon, 69% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Half of Hamilton commutes less than 3 miles
About 17% 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.
Where the people who work in Hamilton live
Where Hamilton clocks in
9% of workers
2% 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.
From Hamilton, about 12 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hamilton workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,313 commuters (the 3% 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 kinds of work in Hamilton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hamilton, 2013 → 2023: 4,499 → 5,666. 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 Hamilton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Hamilton 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, Hamilton is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #15 of 42 in Montana. Both inputs place Hamilton 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 2,394 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). 12.6% of Hamilton households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Hamilton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hamilton next to U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,400: 2,239th of 3,612 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 751 | Helena Valley Northeast MT | 4,659 | $141K | 5.2% | 1.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 762 | Four Corners MT | 5,791 | $101K | 6.3% | 0.5% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 880 | Lolo MT | 4,314 | $86K | 5.3% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,237 | Great Barrington MA | 7,239 | $84K | 9.2% | 5.0% | 32% | C+ |
| 2,238 | Pittstown NY | 5,472 | $92K | 13.2% | 5.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,239 | Hamilton MT | 5,451 | $49K | 8.8% | 2.0% | 45% | C+ |
| 2,240 | Erwin NC | 4,956 | $51K | 12.2% | 2.4% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,241 | Warrenton OR | 6,312 | $71K | 7.0% | 4.0% | 23% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | 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 Hamilton, 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 Hamilton: questions
What is the median household income in Hamilton?
$49,204 (±$9,323) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hamilton?
8.8%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hamilton?
12 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hamilton work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Missoula (9%, 43 mi), Corvallis (2%, 5 mi), Billings (2%, 271 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hamilton walkable?
Hamilton is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hamilton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hamilton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hamilton
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.