Photo: Rmburza · CC BY 4.0A job hub: Allegan has 2.6 jobs per working resident, and 5,126 people come in to work
Employers in Allegan report 5,693 jobs, against 2,206 working residents. The two grades for Allegan are C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Allegan in brief
Allegan is where the jobs are
Allegan has 5,693 jobs, 2.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,600 people are in town, 68% more than the 5,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Allegan makes and builds things
58% of the jobs based in Allegan are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Allegan residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Allegan pay better than its residents’ jobs
68% of the jobs based in Allegan pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 52% of the jobs Allegan residents hold. 90% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Allegan. The jobs ↓
Allegan draws workers from far and wide
The 5,693 jobs in Allegan are filled from a wide area. Allegan’s own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 30%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Allegan
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Allegan is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #501 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Allegan’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($52,925, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is three years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Allegan could be anywhere from C− to B+.
In and out of Allegan on a workday
On a workday 1,639 residents head out to work and 567 work right here.
About 8,600 people are in Allegan on a workday afternoon, 68% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
A place that makes things: 58% of Allegan’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Allegan, 2011 → 2021: 5,839 → 5,693. 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 Allegan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Allegan’s workforce comes from
Where Allegan clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Michigan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Allegan workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,070 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.
How far it is to work from Allegan
About 16% 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.
Allegan is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Allegan is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #115 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,252 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). 2.0% of Allegan households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Allegan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,600 to 6,900, Allegan ranks 2,389th of 3,627 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,387 | Edgewood OH | 4,107 | $63K | 15.1% | 3.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,388 | Waukon IA | 3,849 | $60K | 10.0% | 3.0% | 35% | C+ |
| 2,389 | Allegan MI | 5,127 | $53K | 13.9% | 3.7% | 26% | C+ |
| 2,390 | Wilmington Township IN | 4,074 | $69K | 15.7% | 4.3% | 25% | C+ |
| 2,391 | Allegheny Township PA | 6,561 | $58K | 8.5% | 5.7% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,627 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Allegan, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Allegan: questions
What is the median household income in Allegan?
$52,925 (±$15,873) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Allegan?
13.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Allegan?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Allegan work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Holland (6%, 21 mi), Allegan Township (5%, 2 mi), Holland Township (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Allegan walkable?
Allegan is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Allegan without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Allegan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Allegan
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.