How Yaak works: jobs, income and commuting
At home: 65% of workers have no commute at all (Montana 12%). Only 2% work in Yaak; the top destination outside it is Troy (29%, 27 miles). A typical one-way commute from Yaak lasts 35 minutes (Montana 19, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Yaak: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 106 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 107 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 (1.01 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.
Out of Yaak to work: where people go
Where Yaak clocks in
29% of workers
17% 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.
What work there is in Yaak: 109 jobs
109 jobs are based in Yaak.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Yaak, 2013 → 2023: 67 → 109. 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 Yaak’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Yaak spends getting to work: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Yaak workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 28 commuters (the 65% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Yaak
About 34% 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.
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 Yaak: questions
What is the median household income in Yaak?
$60,000 (±$8,079) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Yaak?
19.6%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Yaak?
35 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 65% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Yaak work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Troy (29%, 27 mi), Libby (17%, 31 mi), Missoula (5%, 156 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Yaak 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 Yaak, from the people who make the trip.
More of Yaak
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.