Unemployment in Alpine Township (5.5%) is higher than in 68% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Alpine Township is behind 62% of U.S. towns. Only 5% stay in Alpine Township for work; outside it, Grand Rapids is the main destination (24%, 9 miles). Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers (Michigan 14%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Alpine Township apart on work
Alpine Township and Grand Rapids trade workers both ways
Grand Rapids is the top workplace for Alpine Township residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Alpine Township come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Alpine Township makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Alpine Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Alpine Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
30% of Alpine Township’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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.
Why Alpine Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alpine Township is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #404 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Alpine Township’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alpine Township could be anywhere from C to A−.
Where Alpine Township’s working residents head each day
Where Alpine Township clocks in
Lines 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.
Goods, not services: 42% of the jobs in Alpine Township
4,596 jobs are based in Alpine Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alpine Township, 2011 → 2021: 4,826 → 4,596. 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 Alpine Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Alpine Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 6,000 residents head out to work, 320 work right here, and 4,276 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Alpine Township on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.73 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Alpine Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alpine Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,658 commuters (the 7% 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.
Miles to work from Alpine Township
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.
Most trips from Alpine Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alpine Township is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #313 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,171 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 46% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.2% of Alpine Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alpine Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Alpine Township is 1,388th among 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Southfield Township MI | 14,671 | $185K | 4.7% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,386 | Harrison Township IN | 13,718 | $67K | 9.0% | 4.4% | 26% | B− |
| 1,387 | Sumpter Township MI | 11,384 | $76K | 12.7% | 5.4% | 3% | B− |
| 1,388 | Alpine Township MI | 14,034 | $68K | 11.2% | 5.5% | 5% | B− |
| 1,389 | White Oak MD | 17,329 | $83K | 15.1% | 7.1% | 1% | B− |
| 1,390 | Bel Air MD | 10,507 | $75K | 13.8% | 4.4% | 15% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Alpine Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door is work for 17% of Alpine Township
The biggest share goes to Walker (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alpine Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Township | – | B− | C+ | 21 min | $67,807 |
| Plainfield Township | 5% | A− | C+ | 20 min | $94,218 |
| Wright Township | under 2% | B | C− | 22 min | $87,344 |
| Walker | 10% | A− | B+ | 20 min | $76,360 |
| Sparta Township | 2% | C+ | B− | 23 min | $76,346 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alpine Township’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 Alpine Township: questions
What is the median household income in Alpine Township?
$67,807 (±$12,827) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alpine Township?
11.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alpine Township?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alpine Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (24%, 9 mi), Walker (10%, 6 mi), Wyoming (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Alpine Township walkable?
Alpine Township is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alpine Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alpine Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alpine Township
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.