Photo: Mark Hufstetler · CC BY-SA 3.0How Lima works: jobs, income and commuting
69 jobs are based in Lima, against 71 working residents. About one in seven stay in Lima for work; outside it, Butte-Silver Bow is the main destination (8%, 87 miles). The trip to work takes 5 minutes on average, next to 19 for Montana and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Lima: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 61 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 59 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 (0.97 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 Lima’s residents
Where Lima clocks in
8% 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.
Jobs in Lima: what the 69 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lima, 2013 → 2023: 59 → 69. 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 Lima’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Lima: about 5 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 1.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lima workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 69 commuters (the 9% 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.
How far Lima’s workers travel
About 50% 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 Lima: questions
What is the median household income in Lima?
$53,871 (±$1,149) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lima?
18.8%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lima?
5 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lima work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Butte-Silver Bow (8%, 87 mi), Dillon (7%, 40 mi), Dell (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lima 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 Lima, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lima
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.