Making a living in Melstone
About one in ten work in Melstone itself; outside it, Billings draws the most (34%, 65 miles). The trip to work takes 28 minutes on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 61 jobs are based in Melstone, against 41 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Melstone for work, and who comes in
On a workday 37 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.
About 170 people are in Melstone on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 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.
Where Melstone goes to work
Where Melstone clocks in
34% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
What Melstone’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Melstone, 2013 → 2023: 16 → 61. 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 Melstone’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 28 minutes from Melstone
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Melstone workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 41 commuters (the 13% 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 it is to work from Melstone
About 71% 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 Melstone: questions
What is the median household income in Melstone?
$65,625 (±$19,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Melstone?
17.5%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Melstone?
28 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Melstone work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Billings (34%, 65 mi), Roundup (10%, 34 mi), Bozeman (5%, 165 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Melstone without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Melstone, from the people who make the trip.
More of Melstone
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.