Photo: Reservoirhill at en.wikipedia · Public domainWhere Billings earns its living
Only 4% work in Billings itself; outside it, Perry draws the most (21%, 19 miles). The trip to work takes 15 minutes on average, where Oklahoma has 22 and the U.S. 26. 194 jobs are based in Billings; 223 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Billings: the figures worth knowing
Billings and Perry trade workers both ways
Perry is the top workplace for Billings residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Billings come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Billings are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 22 across Oklahoma. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oklahoma 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 223 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where people from Billings work
Where Billings clocks in
18% of workers
12% 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 far Billings’ workers travel
About 31% 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.
Commuting from Billings: about 15 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Billings workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 207 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Oklahoma: 85% 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.
Who works in Billings, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 213 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 184 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 (0.87 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.
In Billings, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Billings, 2013 → 2023: 152 → 194. 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 Billings’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Billings: questions
What is the median household income in Billings?
$45,938 (±$18,961) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Billings?
17.3%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Billings?
15 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Billings work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Perry (21%, 19 mi), Stillwater (18%, 35 mi), Oklahoma City (12%, 74 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Billings 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 Billings, from the people who make the trip.
More of Billings
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.