Wheatland has some of the lowest unemployment in the country, with hardly anyone out of work
The two grades for Wheatland are B for jobs and income and D for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 89% of U.S. towns. Only 7% work in Wheatland itself; outside it, Helena draws the most (14%, 49 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Wheatland
Wheatland’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Wheatland is Helena, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (80) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Wheatland makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Wheatland are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Wheatland residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Wheatland pay little
29% of the jobs based in Wheatland pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 33% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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 573 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Wheatland
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wheatland is better than 60% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Wheatland’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wheatland could be anywhere from B− to B+.
How far it is to work from Wheatland
About 25% 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.
Goods, not services: 42% of the jobs in Wheatland
399 jobs are based in Wheatland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wheatland, 2013 → 2023: 267 → 399. 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 Wheatland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Wheatland
On a workday 535 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 361 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Wheatland on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
The towns that employ Wheatland’s residents
Where Wheatland clocks in
14% of workers
14% 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.
How long Wheatland spends getting to work: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wheatland workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 919 commuters (the 10% 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.
Getting around Wheatland: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wheatland is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Wheatland 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 1,018 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). 0.0% of Wheatland households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wheatland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wheatland next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200: 1,507th of 5,381 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 455 | King Arthur Park MT | 1,992 | $109K | 7.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 535 | Manhattan MT | 2,073 | $88K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,215 | Three Forks MT | 1,920 | $80K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,505 | Grizzly Flats CA | 1,410 | $92K | 1.6% | 0.0% | <1% | B |
| 1,506 | Perry LA | 1,424 | $82K | 9.5% | 1.3% | 1% | B |
| 1,507 | Wheatland MT | 1,661 | $123K | 12.9% | 0.0% | 7% | B |
| 1,508 | Brown Township IN | 1,746 | $105K | 5.3% | 8.2% | 1% | B |
| 1,509 | Graham Township IN | 1,585 | $78K | 3.0% | 6.2% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | 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 Wheatland, 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 Wheatland: questions
What is the median household income in Wheatland?
$123,277 (±$12,445) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wheatland?
12.9%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wheatland?
23 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wheatland work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Helena (14%, 49 mi), Bozeman (14%, 32 mi), Townsend (5%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wheatland walkable?
Wheatland is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wheatland 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 Wheatland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wheatland
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.