Where Atlanta earns its living
About one in ten work in Atlanta itself; outside it, Briley Township draws the most (17%, 2 miles). 5% of workers have no commute at all (Michigan 14%). The average commute takes 18 minutes each way, where Michigan has 24 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Atlanta in brief
A big share show a job far from home
41% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Many jobs in Atlanta pay little
37% of the jobs based in Atlanta pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Atlanta’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Atlanta is Gaylord, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (18) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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; with 204 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How many miles Atlanta commutes
About 41% 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.
The kinds of work in Atlanta
320 jobs are based in Atlanta.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Atlanta, 2011 → 2021: 351 → 320. 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 Atlanta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Atlanta by day and by night
On a workday 180 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 296 people come in from elsewhere.
About 870 people are in Atlanta on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Atlanta’s workers come from
Where Atlanta 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.
From Atlanta, about 18 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Atlanta workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 265 commuters (the 5% 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.
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 Atlanta: questions
What is the median household income in Atlanta?
$42,936 (±$4,882) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Atlanta?
24.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Atlanta?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Atlanta work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Briley Township (17%, 2 mi), Gaylord (9%, 26 mi), Albert Township (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Atlanta without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Atlanta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Atlanta
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.