Photo: SportSuburban · CC BY 2.0More people are out of work in Townsend (13.3%) than in 98% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 31 minutes getting to work on average, next to 19 for Montana and 26 for the U.S. Townsend grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in four stay in Townsend for work; outside it, Helena is the main destination (16%, 30 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Townsend, in a few figures
Townsend’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Townsend is Helena, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (131) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Townsend workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 19 across Montana. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 92 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 818 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Townsend earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Townsend is better than 9% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Townsend’s grade up ($70,752, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Townsend could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Miles to work from Townsend
About 27% 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.
Townsend’s commute takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Townsend workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 790 commuters (the 13% 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.
Townsend on a workday afternoon
On a workday 624 residents head out to work, 194 work right here, and 428 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 (0.76 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.
Where Townsend goes to work
Where Townsend clocks in
16% 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.
What the 622 jobs in Townsend are
622 jobs are based in Townsend.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Townsend, 2013 → 2023: 582 → 622. 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 Townsend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Townsend
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Townsend is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Townsend near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 913 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). 5.2% of Townsend households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Townsend’s commuters take a bus or train.
4,638th of 5,328: where Townsend ranks among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 549 | King Arthur Park MT | 1,992 | $109K | 7.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 647 | Manhattan MT | 2,073 | $88K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 897 | Big Sky MT | 2,445 | $139K | 4.7% | 1.4% | 68% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,636 | Shelby MI | 2,185 | $50K | 20.0% | 6.6% | 6% | D |
| 4,637 | Hudson MI | 2,347 | $53K | 17.8% | 7.9% | 16% | D |
| 4,638 | Townsend MT | 2,272 | $71K | 15.6% | 13.3% | 24% | D |
| 4,639 | Chelsea OK | 1,999 | $51K | 19.1% | 10.7% | 16% | D |
| 4,640 | Fairplain Township MI | 1,892 | $56K | 17.9% | 1.4% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Townsend, 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 Townsend: questions
What is the median household income in Townsend?
$70,752 (±$8,301) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Townsend?
15.6%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Townsend?
31 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Townsend work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Helena (16%, 30 mi), Bozeman (7%, 49 mi), Wheatland (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Townsend walkable?
Townsend is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Townsend without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Townsend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Townsend
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.