Big Arm is a tiny town located in the state of Montana. With a population of 218 people and just one neighborhood, Big Arm is the 139th largest community in Montana.
Big Arm home prices are not only among the most expensive in Montana, but Big Arm real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Big Arm is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Big Arm is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Big Arm who work in healthcare (49.09%), sales jobs (30.91%), and office and administrative support (0.00%).
Another notable thing is that Big Arm is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Big Arm’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 15.14 minutes getting to work every day.
Big Arm is a very car-oriented town. 100.00% of residents commute to work in a private automobile rather than by other means, such as public transit, bicycling, or walking. This is because Big Arm is a small town , and most people who live here have to drive out of town for work, and the town population is not large nor dense enough to support an extensive public transportation system. Big Arm has a lot of rural roads, and houses can be far apart. Many residents drive out of town for regular shopping trips as well.
Big Arm is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
The percentage of people in Big Arm with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 21.84%: just 11.22% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Big Arm in 2022 was $23,077, which is low income relative to Montana and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $92,308 for a family of four. However, Big Arm contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Big Arm also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 55.63% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Big Arm is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Big Arm home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Big Arm residents report their race to be Native American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Big Arm include Italian, Yugoslavian, Other West Indian, West Indian, and U.S. Virgin Islander.
The most common language spoken in Big Arm is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Russian.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 39.5% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 97.6% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
In addition, this neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 15 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 96.0% of America.
Each year, fewer and fewer Americans make their living as farmers, foresters, or fishers. But the neighborhood truly stands out among U.S. neighborhoods. According to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, this neighborhood has a greater proportion of farmers, foresters, or fishers than 95.7% of all American neighborhoods. This is truly a unique cultural characteristic of this neighborhood.
Furthermore, the government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 13.0% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 95.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Native American and Danish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 23.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Native American ancestry and 5.6% have Danish ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 96.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Big Arm are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 63.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 29.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 81.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 42.9% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 18.4% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (18.3%), and 16.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 91.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Italian and Polish.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Big Arm, MT, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Native American (23.0%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (18.5%), and residents who report English roots (15.3%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (11.4%), along with some Danish ancestry residents (5.6%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (41.5% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (78.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (10.9%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.