Work means Great Falls for more than half of Sand Coulee’s working residents
Hardly any work in Sand Coulee itself; outside it, Great Falls draws the most (53%, 9 miles). 5% of workers work from home (Montana 12%). The trip to work takes 23 minutes on average, next to 19 for Montana and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Sand Coulee: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 60 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 1 people come in from elsewhere.
About 75 people are in Sand Coulee on a workday afternoon, 44% fewer than live here.
0.02 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 places Sand Coulee commutes to
Where Sand Coulee clocks in
53% of workers
7% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
1 jobs are based in Sand Coulee.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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 Sand Coulee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Sand Coulee: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sand Coulee workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 40 commuters (the 5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Sand Coulee
About 17% 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.
Next door to Sand Coulee
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sand Coulee workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sand Coulee | – | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Big Stone Colony | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Tracy | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Big Stone Colony and Tracy: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sand Coulee’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 Sand Coulee: questions
What is the poverty rate in Sand Coulee?
10.4%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sand Coulee?
23 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sand Coulee work?
0% work in town.
Can you get around Sand Coulee without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sand Coulee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sand Coulee
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.