Pray has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.6 for each
Only 2% work in Pray itself; outside it, Livingston draws the most (30%, 18 miles). Employers in Pray report 174 jobs, against 315 working residents. Pray grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Pray
Pray and Livingston trade workers both ways
Livingston is the top workplace for Pray residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Pray come from (30% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Pray workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 315 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Pray’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Pray is better than 47% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Pray’s grade up ($96,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Pray’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, Pray could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Where Pray goes to work
Where Pray clocks in
30% of workers
15% of workers
3% 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.
The trip to work from Pray: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pray workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 340 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.
Pray on a workday afternoon
On a workday 309 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 168 people come in from elsewhere.
About 990 people are in Pray on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Pray works in goods: 39% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pray, 2013 → 2023: 198 → 174. 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 Pray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Pray
About 20% 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.
Pray is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pray is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.3% across Montana, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 390 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 40% 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). 2.5% of Pray households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Pray’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Pray is 1,381st of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 380 | Wye MT | 1,055 | $110K | 2.7% | 1.3% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 454 | Clinton MT | 1,040 | $104K | 3.8% | 4.1% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 890 | Churchill MT | 1,167 | $108K | 6.3% | 1.3% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,379 | Dyberry Township PA | 1,432 | $88K | 7.1% | 2.6% | 5% | B− |
| 1,380 | Jefferson Township PA | 1,403 | $76K | 6.6% | 5.3% | 2% | B− |
| 1,381 | Pray MT | 1,129 | $96K | 6.9% | 0.0% | 2% | B− |
| 1,382 | Spring Valley WI | 1,443 | $70K | 6.6% | 5.4% | 7% | B− |
| 1,383 | Sullivan Township PA | 1,443 | $88K | 6.3% | 4.4% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Pray, the top three, the last and three more from Montana.
How Pray compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pray workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pray | – | B− | B | 36 min | $96,250 |
| Emigrant | 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Emigrant: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Emigrant. Darker towns draw more of Pray’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Pray: questions
What is the median household income in Pray?
$96,250 (±$12,061) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pray?
6.9%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pray?
36 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pray work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Livingston (30%, 18 mi), Bozeman (15%, 27 mi), Billings (3%, 104 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pray walkable?
Pray is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pray without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pray
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.