Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Households in Miles City earn less than those in 62% of U.S. towns
11.4% of residents live below the poverty line (Montana 11.5%). For jobs and income Miles City is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). Home is the office for 4% of workers (Montana 12%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Miles City
Most jobs in Miles City go to people who live here
Of the 4,357 jobs based in Miles City, 55% are held by Miles City residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Miles City’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Miles City is Billings, 137 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (366) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Miles City are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Miles City workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Montana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
The four measures behind Miles City’s grade
Unemployment holds Miles City’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Miles City could be anywhere from C− to B.
Miles City by day and by night
On a workday 1,760 residents head out to work, 2,416 work right here, and 1,941 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 (1.04 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.
How far it is to work from Miles City
About 31% 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.
Each way, about 11 minutes from Miles City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Miles City workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,320 commuters (the 4% 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.
9% of working residents work in Billings
Where Miles City clocks in
9% of workers
1% of workers
1% 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.
Inside Miles City’s 4,357 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Miles City, 2013 → 2023: 4,042 → 4,357. 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 Miles City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles City is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,497 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). 6.8% of Miles City households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Miles City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,981 U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,400, Miles City comes 2,199th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,406 | Helena Valley West Central MT | 8,056 | $90K | 7.1% | 3.8% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,569 | Laurel MT | 7,205 | $68K | 10.0% | 2.4% | 18% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,668 | Whitefish MT | 9,358 | $74K | 9.4% | 2.4% | 37% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,197 | Lacy-Lakeview TX | 7,240 | $57K | 13.1% | 5.8% | 5% | C |
| 2,198 | Washington IA | 7,261 | $55K | 12.8% | 3.3% | 31% | C |
| 2,199 | Miles City MT | 8,450 | $68K | 11.4% | 3.9% | 58% | C |
| 2,200 | Los Fresnos TX | 8,703 | $62K | 34.7% | 3.6% | 14% | C |
| 2,201 | Waterford CA | 9,258 | $74K | 13.9% | 7.9% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,981 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Miles City, 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 Miles City: questions
What is the median household income in Miles City?
$67,727 (±$9,159) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Miles City?
11.4%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Miles City?
11 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Miles City work?
58% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Billings (9%, 137 mi), Bozeman (1%, 255 mi), Helena (1%, 294 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Miles City walkable?
Miles City is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Miles City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Miles City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Miles City
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.