Photo: Djembayz · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Lolo (0.8%) is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 25 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Lolo is better than 79% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (C). Only 7% work in Lolo; the top destination outside it is Missoula (59%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Lolo, in brief
More than half of Lolo works in Missoula
1,138 working residents, 59%, have their main job in Missoula, 8.1 miles away. That’s 8 times as many as work in Lolo itself. The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Lolo’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 25 minutes, longer than the Montana average of 19. Time on the road ↓
Most Lolo residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Lolo’s grade explained
Unemployment holds Lolo’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lolo could be anywhere from B to A.
Where Lolo’s working residents head each day
Where Lolo clocks in
59% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
How long Lolo spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lolo workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,867 commuters (the 12% 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.
Where in the region Lolo works
About 18% 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.
Who leaves Lolo for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,798 residents head out to work, 140 work right here, and 649 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,200 people are in Lolo on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.41 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 kinds of work in Lolo
789 jobs are based in Lolo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lolo, 2013 → 2023: 593 → 789. 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 Lolo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Lolo walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 6.3% across Montana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,127 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.0% of Lolo households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lolo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lolo places 876th of 4,039 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 743 | Helena Valley Northeast MT | 4,659 | $141K | 5.2% | 1.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 759 | Four Corners MT | 5,791 | $101K | 6.3% | 0.5% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 874 | Haw Creek Township IN | 3,887 | $87K | 5.3% | 1.4% | 9% | A− |
| 875 | Nelson Township OH | 3,146 | $80K | 2.3% | 3.3% | 3% | A− |
| 876 | Lolo MT | 4,314 | $86K | 5.3% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| 877 | Rosedale WA | 4,208 | $159K | 2.5% | 6.5% | 1% | A− |
| 878 | Otsego MI | 4,045 | $74K | 5.3% | 2.3% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,124 | Montana City MT | 3,092 | $130K | 1.8% | 3.9% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Lolo, 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 Lolo: questions
What is the median household income in Lolo?
$86,065 (±$7,379) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lolo?
5.3%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lolo?
25 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lolo work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Missoula (59%, 8 mi), Helena (3%, 100 mi), Billings (2%, 274 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lolo walkable?
Lolo is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lolo without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lolo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lolo
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.