Monture Guard Station · Photo: Forest Service - Northern Region · Public domainJobs, income and commuting in Ovando, MT
Hardly any stay in Ovando for work; outside it, Helena is the main destination (20%, 61 miles). Commuters spend 25 minutes getting to work on average; the Montana average is 19, the U.S. 26. 40 jobs are based in Ovando for 25 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ovando on a workday afternoon
On a workday 25 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere.
About 64 people are in Ovando on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 daily trip into Ovando
Where Ovando clocks in
20% of workers
8% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Ovando
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ovando, 2013 → 2023: 25 → 40. 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 Ovando’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Ovando: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ovando workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15 commuters (the 17% 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 Ovando goes to work
About 56% 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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 0% of Ovando workers work outside Montana. The job records count 12% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ovando: questions
What is the median household income in Ovando?
$52,679 (±$7,965) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ovando?
6.1%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ovando?
25 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ovando work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Helena (20%, 61 mi), Deer Lodge (8%, 47 mi), Helena West Side (8%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ovando without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ovando, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ovando
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.