Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Sidney’s household incomes are lower than in 70% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Sidney is better than 40% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (A−). Below the poverty line: 7.7% of residents, against 11.5% across Montana. At home: 2% of workers have no commute at all (Montana 12%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Sidney stands out on work
Most jobs in Sidney go to people who live here
Of the 3,248 jobs based in Sidney, 49% are held by Sidney residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Sidney’s working residents have a job less than 2 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 21 minutes, longer than the Montana average of 19. Time on the road ↓
Few Sidney workers work from home
Only 2% 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 Sidney’s grade
Unemployment holds Sidney’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sidney could be anywhere from C− to B.
Who leaves Sidney for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,613 residents head out to work, 1,605 work right here, and 1,643 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 (1.01 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.
About 21 minutes to work from Sidney
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sidney workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,251 commuters (the 2% 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 Sidney goes to work
Where Sidney clocks in
4% 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.
Inside Sidney’s 3,248 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sidney, 2013 → 2023: 4,171 → 3,248. 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 Sidney’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Sidney’s workers travel
About 19% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Sidney
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 6.3% across Montana, on an EPA index of 8.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,314 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). 6.2% of Sidney households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sidney’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,162nd of 3,297: where Sidney ranks among U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,400
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 703 | Helena Valley Northeast MT | 4,659 | $141K | 5.2% | 1.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 712 | Four Corners MT | 5,791 | $101K | 6.3% | 0.5% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,231 | Helena Valley Northwest MT | 5,183 | $101K | 2.6% | 4.5% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,160 | Reading Township OH | 4,465 | $72K | 15.7% | 3.5% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,161 | Holtville AL | 5,158 | $77K | 13.0% | 4.9% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,162 | Sidney MT | 6,217 | $63K | 7.7% | 3.4% | 50% | C+ |
| 2,163 | Country Homes WA | 6,198 | $85K | 14.2% | 7.8% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,164 | Belfair WA | 4,557 | $88K | 6.4% | 7.4% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,297 | 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 Sidney, 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 Sidney: questions
What is the median household income in Sidney?
$62,538 (±$13,627) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sidney?
7.7%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sidney?
21 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sidney work?
50% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Williston (4%, 41 mi), Billings (3%, 247 mi), Fairview (2%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sidney walkable?
Sidney is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sidney without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sidney, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sidney
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.