Photo: Montanabw · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of The Silos commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Only 1% stay in The Silos for work; outside it, Helena is the main destination (15%, 25 miles). Employers in The Silos report 97 jobs, and 369 of its residents work somewhere. For 0% of workers, the job is at home; Montana has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in The Silos
The Silos workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 48 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana. Over a year that’s about 368 hours of commuting, 222 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
43% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
The Silos’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside The Silos is Helena, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (55) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 369 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Time on the road from The Silos: about 48 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of The Silos workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 233 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.
How far The Silos goes to work
About 43% 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 and out of The Silos on a workday
On a workday 365 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 93 people come in from elsewhere.
About 310 people are in The Silos on a workday afternoon, 47% 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.
Where The Silos’ working residents head each day
Where The Silos clocks in
15% of workers
14% 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 Silos works in goods: 34% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in The Silos, 2013 → 2023: 45 → 97. 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 The Silos’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 The Silos: questions
What is the median household income in The Silos?
$60,521 (±$17,835) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in The Silos?
19.5%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from The Silos?
48 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in The Silos work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Helena (15%, 25 mi), Bozeman (14%, 56 mi), Wheatland (7%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around The Silos 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 The Silos, from the people who make the trip.
More of The Silos
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.