Most of Lakeside commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
About one in seven stay in Lakeside for work; outside it, Kalispell is the main destination (31%, 14 miles). 445 jobs are based in Lakeside for 812 working residents. Lakeside grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Lakeside in brief
Lakeside and Kalispell trade workers both ways
Kalispell is the top workplace for Lakeside residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Lakeside come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Lakeside workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Lakeside has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lakeside went from 301 in 2013 to 445 in 2023, +48%. The jobs ↓
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; with 812 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Lakeside’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lakeside is better than 49% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Lakeside’s grade up (2.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lakeside could be anywhere from D to A.
Where Lakeside’s working residents head each day
Where Lakeside clocks in
7% 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.
About 30 minutes each way for Lakeside’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 Lakeside workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 969 commuters (the 17% 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.
What Lakeside’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lakeside, 2013 → 2023: 301 → 445. 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 Lakeside’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Lakeside by day
On a workday 706 residents head out to work, 106 work right here, and 339 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Lakeside on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer 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.
Where in the region Lakeside works
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.
Few in Lakeside walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lakeside is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.3% across Montana, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,162 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). 3.4% of Lakeside households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Lakeside’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lakeside ranks: 2,231st of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 538 | King Arthur Park MT | 1,992 | $109K | 7.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 634 | Manhattan MT | 2,073 | $88K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 883 | Big Sky MT | 2,445 | $139K | 4.7% | 1.4% | 68% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,229 | Lyman WY | 2,216 | $101K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 22% | B− |
| 2,230 | Mendon Township MI | 2,565 | $76K | 6.4% | 4.9% | 11% | B− |
| 2,231 | Lakeside MT | 2,386 | $77K | 10.9% | 2.0% | 13% | B− |
| 2,232 | Louisa VA | 2,244 | $65K | 9.9% | 1.9% | 10% | B− |
| 2,233 | Fayetteville WV | 2,721 | $68K | 10.3% | 2.1% | 17% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Lakeside, 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 Lakeside: questions
What is the median household income in Lakeside?
$77,435 (±$47,047) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lakeside?
10.9%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lakeside?
30 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lakeside work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kalispell (31%, 14 mi), Missoula (7%, 80 mi), Evergreen (6%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lakeside walkable?
Lakeside is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lakeside without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lakeside, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lakeside
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.