Slayton Mercantile Co. · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Work and commuting in Lavina
Only 7% work in Lavina; the top destination outside it is Billings (27%, 40 miles). Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers, next to 12% for Montana as a whole. The average commute takes 53 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
The daily flow of workers through Lavina
On a workday 38 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 42 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 (1.10 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.
The towns that employ Lavina’s residents
Where Lavina clocks in
27% of workers
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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
45 jobs are based in Lavina.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lavina, 2013 → 2023: 52 → 45. 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 Lavina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 53 minutes in Lavina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 17 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lavina workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 68 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.
Lavina’s commute, mile by mile
About 28% 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 Lavina: questions
What is the median household income in Lavina?
$40,625 (±$32,198) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lavina?
11.9%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lavina?
53 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lavina work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Billings (27%, 40 mi), Ryegate (12%, 15 mi), Bozeman (7%, 110 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lavina 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 Lavina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lavina
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.