Jobs and the daily commute in Wise River
Commuters spend 28 minutes getting to work on average; Montana averages 19, the U.S. 26. Hardly any stay in Wise River for work; outside it, Laurel is the main destination (8%, 201 miles). Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 12% across Montana.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Wise River
On a workday 13 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 11 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 (0.85 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.
Commuting out of Wise River: the destinations
Where Wise River clocks in
8% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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 services: health care, schools and offices
11 jobs are based in Wise River.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wise River, 2013 → 2023: 1 → 11. 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 Wise River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 28 minutes each way for Wise River’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wise River workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 17 commuters (the 6% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Wise River
About 85% 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.
Wise River and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wise River workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise River | – | — | — | 28 min | $55,313 |
| Butte-Silver Bow | under 8% | C | A | 17 min | $61,754 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wise River’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 0% of Wise River workers work outside Montana. The job records count 16% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Wise River: questions
What is the median household income in Wise River?
$55,313 (±$27,117) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wise River?
20.0%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wise River?
28 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wise River work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Laurel (8%, 201 mi), Helena (8%, 71 mi), Layton (8%, 330 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wise River 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 Wise River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wise River
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.