Austin Township has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Austin Township grades D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Employers in Austin Township report 99 jobs, against 476 working residents. 5% of workers work from home, where Michigan as a whole has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Austin Township
Austin Township is a place people come home to
There are 99 jobs based in Austin Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Austin Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 476 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Austin Township’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Austin Township is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Austin Township’s grade up ($64,375, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.1%) is left out: Austin Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Austin Township could be anywhere from D− to C+.
A workday in Austin Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 471 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 94 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Austin Township on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer 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.
About 29 minutes each way for Austin Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Austin Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 518 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.
11% of working residents work in Big Rapids
Where Austin Township clocks in
11% 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.
What Austin Township’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Austin Township, 2011 → 2021: 23 → 99. 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 Austin Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Austin Township’s workers travel
About 22% 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.
Austin Township is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Austin Township is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 4.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 545 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 7.7% of Austin Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Austin Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Austin Township places 4,327th of 5,343 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 203 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 244 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,325 | Mount Jackson VA | 2,040 | $52K | 16.3% | 8.2% | 17% | D |
| 4,326 | Ferris Township MI | 1,390 | $59K | 13.2% | 5.2% | 3% | D |
| 4,327 | Austin Township MI | 1,805 | $64K | 17.2% | 2.1% | 1% | D |
| 4,328 | Comer GA | 1,631 | $53K | 23.3% | 3.9% | 5% | D |
| 4,329 | Duson LA | 1,357 | $25K | 39.3% | 10.6% | <1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Austin Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door is work for 10% of Austin Township
The biggest share goes to Morton Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Austin Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Township | – | D | C+ | 29 min | $64,375 |
| Morton Township | 6% | C− | C− | 27 min | $72,877 |
| Mecosta Township | 4% | C | C | 25 min | $61,250 |
| Canadian Lakes | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Deerfield Township | under 2% | C− | C | 30 min | $57,898 |
| Colfax Township | under 2% | B− | C | 23 min | $87,935 |
| Stanwood | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Canadian Lakes: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Stanwood: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Austin 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 Austin Township: questions
What is the median household income in Austin Township?
$64,375 (±$10,938) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Austin Township?
17.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Austin Township?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Austin Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Big Rapids (11%, 9 mi), Grand Rapids (9%, 46 mi), Morton Township (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Austin Township walkable?
Austin Township is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Austin Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Austin Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Austin 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.