Photo: J.B. Chandler · Public domainHousehold incomes in Plentywood trail those of 61% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Plentywood are D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 14.7% of residents, next to 11.5% across Montana. Home is the office for 0% of workers, where Montana as a whole has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Plentywood, in brief
Most jobs in Plentywood go to people who live here
Of the 760 jobs based in Plentywood, 50% are held by Plentywood residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Plentywood are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Plentywood workers work from home
Only 0% 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; with 668 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Plentywood’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Plentywood is better than 14% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Plentywood’s grade up ($68,438, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Plentywood’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Plentywood could be anywhere from D− to C+.
In and out of Plentywood on a workday
On a workday 289 residents head out to work, 379 work right here, and 381 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 (1.14 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 trip to work from Plentywood: about 10 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plentywood workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 877 commuters (the 0% 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 Plentywood goes to work
Where Plentywood clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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 Plentywood’s 760 jobs
760 jobs are based in Plentywood.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plentywood, 2013 → 2023: 925 → 760. 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 Plentywood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Plentywood
About 27% 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.
In Plentywood, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plentywood is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 18.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.3% across Montana, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 877 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). 8.9% of Plentywood households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Plentywood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Plentywood is 4,790th among 6,161 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 509 | King Arthur Park MT | 1,992 | $109K | 7.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 594 | Manhattan MT | 2,073 | $88K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,349 | Three Forks MT | 1,920 | $80K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,788 | Greenbush Township MI | 1,317 | $63K | 12.1% | 4.2% | 3% | D |
| 4,789 | Arapahoe WY | 1,240 | $70K | 18.1% | 12.3% | 17% | D |
| 4,790 | Plentywood MT | 1,619 | $68K | 14.7% | 3.3% | 57% | D |
| 4,791 | Plainview NE | 1,284 | $55K | 10.9% | 8.3% | 13% | D |
| 4,792 | Woodland ME | 1,206 | $64K | 13.9% | 3.6% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Plentywood, 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 Plentywood: questions
What is the median household income in Plentywood?
$68,438 (±$15,386) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plentywood?
14.7%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plentywood?
10 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plentywood work?
57% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Williston (4%, 58 mi), Billings (3%, 279 mi), Sidney (1%, 75 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plentywood walkable?
Plentywood is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plentywood without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plentywood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plentywood
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.