Photo: Jason Woodhead · CC BY 4.0Jobs and the daily commute in Virginia City
The average commute takes 11 minutes each way, where Montana has 19 and the U.S. 26. Home is the office for 24% of workers, next to 12% for Montana as a whole. About one in ten stay in Virginia City for work; outside it, Sheridan is the main destination (20%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Virginia City
On a workday 73 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 133 people come in from elsewhere.
About 320 people are in Virginia City on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Virginia City
Where Virginia City clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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 health care, schools and offices in Virginia City
141 jobs are based in Virginia City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Virginia City, 2014 → 2024: 129 → 141. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Virginia City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 11 minutes each way for Virginia City’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Virginia City workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 32 commuters (the 24% 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 many miles Virginia City commutes
About 21% 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 2024.
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 2024, 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 Virginia City: questions
What is the median household income in Virginia City?
$61,875 (±$51,484) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Virginia City?
7.0%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Virginia City?
11 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Virginia City work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sheridan (20%, 17 mi), Twin Bridges (6%, 26 mi), Butte-Silver Bow (5%, 54 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Virginia City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Virginia City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Virginia City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.