Where Sunburst earns its living
The trip to work takes 12 minutes on average; Montana averages 19, the U.S. 26. About one in five work in Sunburst; the top destination outside it is Sweet Grass (14%, 9 miles). Sunburst has 93 jobs, and 91 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Sunburst
On a workday 72 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 74 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 (1.02 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 towns that employ Sunburst’s residents
Where Sunburst clocks in
14% of workers
13% 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
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sunburst, 2013 → 2023: 145 → 93. 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 Sunburst’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Sunburst spends getting to work: about 12 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sunburst workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 131 commuters (the 11% 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.
The commute from Sunburst, by distance
About 31% 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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Sunburst: questions
What is the median household income in Sunburst?
$65,938 (±$11,392) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sunburst?
14.6%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sunburst?
12 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sunburst work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sweet Grass (14%, 9 mi), Shelby (13%, 26 mi), Great Falls (7%, 99 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sunburst 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 Sunburst, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sunburst
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.