Photo: Travellers & Tinkers · CC BY-SA 4.0Lewistown’s household incomes are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D−: better than 5% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #40 of 42 in Montana.
Walkability A: more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns · #6 of 42 in Montana.
Working residents average 13 minutes each way (Montana 19, U.S. 26). More than half work in Lewistown; the top destination outside it is Billings (8%, 97 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lewistown
Lewistown’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lewistown is Billings, 97 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (222) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Lewistown go to people who live here
Of the 2,739 jobs based in Lewistown, 50% are held by Lewistown residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Lewistown are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. 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.
What’s behind Lewistown’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lewistown is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #40 of 42 in Montana. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lewistown’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lewistown could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Half of Lewistown commutes less than 1 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 29% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,284 residents head out to work, 1,380 work right here, and 1,359 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 (1.03 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 13 minutes each way, quicker than most of Montana
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lewistown workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,623 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Montana: 81% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
8% of working residents work in Billings
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Lewistown clocks in
8% of workers
2% of workers
1% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 2,739 jobs in Lewistown are
2,739 jobs are based in Lewistown. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lewistown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lewistown, 2013 → 2023: 2,495 → 2,739. 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.
Lewistown 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, Lewistown is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #6 of 42 in Montana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.3% across Montana, on an EPA index of 8.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,828 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). 14.5% of Lewistown households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lewistown’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lewistown compares with U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lewistown, the top three, the last and three more from Montana.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 717 | Helena Valley Northeast MT | 4,659 | $141K | 5.2% | 1.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 727 | Four Corners MT | 5,791 | $101K | 6.3% | 0.5% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 839 | Lolo MT | 4,314 | $86K | 5.3% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,266 | Mathis TX | 4,312 | $35K | 29.5% | 10.4% | 19% | D− |
| 3,267 | Hearne TX | 4,719 | $37K | 27.3% | 15.3% | 18% | D− |
| 3,268 | Lewistown MT | 6,179 | $49K | 20.9% | 7.0% | 52% | D− |
| 3,269 | Wadesboro NC | 5,035 | $43K | 27.4% | 7.0% | 18% | D− |
| 3,270 | Crescent City CA | 6,002 | $36K | 17.2% | 8.4% | 37% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | 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.
Lewistown and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Lewistown’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lewistown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewistown | – | D− | A | 13 min | $48,750 |
| Lewistown Heights | under 1% | — | — | 32 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lewistown Heights: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Lewistown: questions
What is the median household income in Lewistown?
$48,750 (±$4,314) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lewistown?
20.9%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lewistown?
13 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lewistown work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Billings (8%, 97 mi), Bozeman (2%, 122 mi), Roy (1%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lewistown walkable?
Lewistown is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lewistown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lewistown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lewistown
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.