Young-Almas House · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Havre has lower household incomes than 87% of U.S. towns
18.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.5% across Montana. The two grades for Havre are C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, against 12% across Montana.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Havre, in brief
Most jobs in Havre go to people who live here
Of the 3,639 jobs based in Havre, 60% are held by Havre residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Havre are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Havre 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Havre
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Havre is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #35 of 42 in Montana. Unemployment holds Havre’s grade up (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($50,329, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Havre could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily commute in and out of Havre
On a workday 1,774 residents head out to work, 2,177 work right here, and 1,462 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 (0.92 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.
About 11 minutes to work from Havre
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Havre workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,285 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.
5% of working residents work in Great Falls
Where Havre clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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.
Havre is a services town
3,639 jobs are based in Havre.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Havre, 2013 → 2023: 4,192 → 3,639. 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 Havre’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Havre
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.
Havre is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.3% across Montana, on an EPA index of 8.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,421 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). 9.8% of Havre households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Havre’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,430th of 2,841: where Havre ranks among U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,364 | Helena Valley West Central MT | 8,056 | $90K | 7.1% | 3.8% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,512 | Laurel MT | 7,205 | $68K | 10.0% | 2.4% | 18% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,610 | Whitefish MT | 9,358 | $74K | 9.4% | 2.4% | 37% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,428 | Swannanoa NC | 6,901 | $70K | 16.8% | 14.8% | 3% | C− |
| 2,429 | Pleasant Township OH | 7,933 | $60K | 17.8% | 5.0% | 17% | C− |
| 2,430 | Havre MT | 9,264 | $50K | 18.2% | 2.9% | 55% | C− |
| 2,431 | Conway NH | 10,308 | $64K | 8.0% | 8.3% | 44% | C− |
| 2,432 | Hamilton AL | 6,769 | $55K | 16.7% | 3.9% | 33% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,841 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Havre, the top three, the last and three more from Montana.
How Havre compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to West Havre (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Havre workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Havre | – | C− | A | 11 min | $50,329 |
| Havre North | 1% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Saddle Butte | 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| West Havre | 5% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Havre North, Saddle Butte and West Havre: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Havre’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Havre: questions
What is the median household income in Havre?
$50,329 (±$7,274) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Havre?
18.2%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Havre?
11 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Havre work?
55% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Great Falls (5%, 104 mi), West Havre (5%, 2 mi), Helena (3%, 173 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Havre walkable?
Havre is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Havre without a car?
<1% 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 Havre, from the people who make the trip.
More of Havre
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.