Three Forks of the Missouri · Photo: Mike Cline · Public domainHardly anyone in Three Forks is out of work
About one in ten stay in Three Forks for work; outside it, Bozeman is the main destination (21%, 28 miles). For jobs and income Three Forks is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). The trip to work takes 24 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
Getting to work from Three Forks, in brief
Three Forks’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Three Forks is Bozeman, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (169) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Three Forks has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Three Forks went from 308 in 2013 to 508 in 2023, +65%. The jobs ↓
Three Forks workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 24 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana. Over a year that’s about 184 hours of commuting, 38 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 805 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Three Forks earns its Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Three Forks’ grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Three Forks could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Three Forks’ commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
Jobs in Three Forks: what the 508 are
508 jobs are based in Three Forks.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Three Forks, 2013 → 2023: 308 → 508. 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 Three Forks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Three Forks, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Three Forks workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 979 commuters (the 9% 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.
In and out of Three Forks on a workday
On a workday 714 residents head out to work, 91 work right here, and 417 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Three Forks on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
Commuting out of Three Forks: the destinations
Where Three Forks clocks in
21% 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.
In Three Forks, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,076 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 20% 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). 3.0% of Three Forks households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Three Forks’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Three Forks ranks 1,426th of 5,921 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 545 | King Arthur Park MT | 1,992 | $109K | 7.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 642 | Manhattan MT | 2,073 | $88K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 888 | Big Sky MT | 2,445 | $139K | 4.7% | 1.4% | 68% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,424 | Bridgewater Township MI | 1,551 | $103K | 7.8% | 2.3% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,425 | Rossmoyne OH | 1,504 | $44K | 4.1% | 1.4% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,426 | Three Forks MT | 1,920 | $80K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,427 | La Vernia TX | 1,499 | $76K | 8.3% | 4.0% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,428 | North Bloomfield Township OH | 1,876 | $90K | 8.8% | 2.3% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Three Forks, 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 Three Forks: questions
What is the median household income in Three Forks?
$79,784 (±$16,819) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Three Forks?
6.2%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Three Forks?
24 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Three Forks work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bozeman (21%, 28 mi), Four Corners (4%, 24 mi), Billings (3%, 145 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Three Forks walkable?
Three Forks is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Three Forks without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Three Forks, from the people who make the trip.
More of Three Forks
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.