Eugene P. Robertson House · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Albion are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
25.2% of residents live below the poverty line (Michigan 13.2%). The two grades for Albion are D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in seven work in Albion; the top destination outside it is Marshall (9%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Albion and work: the main findings
How Albion earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Albion is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #682 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Albion’s grade up (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (13.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Albion stays D.
What the 1,743 jobs in Albion are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Albion, 2011 → 2021: 2,020 → 1,743. 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 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Albion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Albion
On a workday 1,882 residents head out to work, 379 work right here, and 1,364 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 (0.77 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
The places Albion commutes to
Where Albion clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Albion
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Albion workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,330 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% 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.
Half of Albion commutes less than 23 miles
About 26% 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 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Albion
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Albion is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #87 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,534 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 12.2% of Albion households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Albion’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Albion compares with U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,991 | Brownsville TN | 9,301 | $43K | 25.7% | 8.6% | 37% | D |
| 2,992 | Makaha HI | 10,066 | $65K | 25.0% | 10.0% | 1% | D |
| 2,993 | Albion MI | 7,474 | $40K | 25.2% | 13.5% | 17% | D |
| 2,994 | Nevada MO | 8,404 | $43K | 27.8% | 5.7% | 42% | D |
| 2,995 | Lawrence Township IL | 6,190 | $50K | 14.9% | 8.5% | 19% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,125 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Albion, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Around Albion: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Sheridan Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Albion workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albion | – | D | A− | 23 min | $39,885 |
| Sheridan Township | 3% | C− | D− | 25 min | $60,458 |
| Albion Township | under 3% | C+ | D | 26 min | $75,990 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Albion’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 2021, 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 Albion: questions
What is the median household income in Albion?
$39,885 (±$3,411) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Albion?
25.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Albion?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Albion work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marshall (9%, 11 mi), Battle Creek (4%, 24 mi), Kalamazoo (4%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Albion walkable?
Albion is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Albion without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Albion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Albion
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, 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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.