This post covers hiring a first employee in Missoula, MT: how many county businesses run without payroll, what Census payroll figures suggest about wage costs by sector, the payroll gap before a hire pays off, and when working capital or a line of credit fits. Ivybend Advances, a small-business funding broker in Missoula, MT, publishes it; lending partners decide.
Most Missoula County, MT businesses have no employees
Missoula County had 12,867 businesses without payroll in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics), against 4,816 employer establishments in 2023 (CBP). The two programs count different years, so they are not added, but the scale is clear: owner-only businesses far outnumber employers.
In the city, 8.0 percent of employed residents ran unincorporated businesses of their own and 4.9 percent ran incorporated ones (American Community Survey 2020-2024). Many of those owners will one day face the first-hire decision.
What a wage costs in this county
Dividing County Business Patterns payroll by paid employees gives a rough average annual pay per employee in Missoula County for 2023. It is an average across full- and part-time staff, not a wage quote, but it shows how much sectors differ:
| Sector | Payroll | Paid employees | Average per employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| All sectors | $2.74 billion | 54,136 | about $50,700 |
| Construction | $288.9 million | 4,039 | about $71,500 |
| Ambulatory health care | $288.8 million | 4,158 | about $69,500 |
| Food services and drinking places | $142.8 million | 6,169 | about $23,100 |
County Business Patterns counts part-time and full-time staff alike, so sectors that rely on part-time shifts show lower averages. A construction or clinical hire is a much larger commitment.
Sector by sector, first hires look different
A construction crew's first hire is often a laborer or second operator, at one of the county's higher average pay levels. A clinic's first hire may be a front-desk or billing role that speeds up insurance payments. A food business may start with part-time shifts. The funding question is the same in each case: how many months of wages before the hire pays for itself?
The full cost goes beyond the wage
- Employer payroll taxes and withholding
- Workers' compensation coverage
- Payroll software or a payroll service
- Training time, when the new person produces little
- Equipment, a vehicle or a workstation for them
Lump sum or a limit for wages
If the gap is one stretch with a clear end (say, the months until a new contract starts paying), working capital fits: a lump sum repaid in fixed installments. If wages will run ahead of receipts on and off, a business line of credit fits better: draw for payroll, repay when customers pay, draw again.
A merchant cash advance is a poor tool for wages. It is not a loan, it collects from every day's sales, and its total cost is usually higher.
A file with no payroll record yet
A business that has never had employees has no payroll record for a partner to read. The partner will look at deposits, the owner's credit and whatever shows the hire will pay off: a signed contract, a waiting list, a second crew's first booked jobs. The clearer the link between the hire and new revenue, the stronger the file.
Get the structure right first
Before the first paycheck, separate business and personal accounts completely and make sure the entity's records are current. Partners reading a file for a first-hire request want to see a business, not a person.
A simple 90-day plan
- Write down the job, the wage and the revenue it should bring in, and by when.
- Total three months of the full cost of the hire.
- Compare that total with your cash on hand and expected receipts.
- If there is a gap, decide whether it is one-off or recurring, then pick the funding shape.
- Call before the hire, not after the first missed payroll.
The broker process explains what happens after that call, and the Missoula County overview has the county's employer counts by size. Other Missoula County decisions get their own posts on the Ivybend blog.
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