Household incomes in Bad Axe are lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Bad Axe itself; outside it, Colfax Township draws the most (11%, 3 miles). 20.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.2% across Michigan. The two grades for Bad Axe are D for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bad Axe: the figures worth knowing
Bad Axe is where the jobs are
Bad Axe has 2,537 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,300 people are in town, 45% more than the 2,900 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Bad Axe workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Bad Axe’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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 ↓
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.
How Bad Axe earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bad Axe is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #675 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Bad Axe’s grade up (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($44,688, U.S. $80,734).
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, poverty and unemployment, Bad Axe could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Who leaves Bad Axe for work, and who comes in
On a workday 895 residents head out to work, 303 work right here, and 2,234 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Bad Axe on a workday afternoon, 45% more than live here.
2.1 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
2,537 jobs are based in Bad Axe.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bad Axe, 2011 → 2021: 2,386 → 2,537. 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 Bad Axe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Bad Axe commutes
About 32% 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.
Where Bad Axe’s workforce comes from
Where Bad Axe 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.
About 22 minutes to work from Bad Axe
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bad Axe workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,074 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.
In Bad Axe, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bad Axe is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #34 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Bad Axe near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,168 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). 14.5% of Bad Axe households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Bad Axe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Bad Axe sits among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 232 | Milton Township MI | 3,187 | $119K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,170 | Country Squire Lakes IN | 3,057 | $57K | 23.9% | 9.7% | <1% | D |
| 4,171 | Casey IL | 2,374 | $48K | 12.9% | 9.3% | 23% | D |
| 4,172 | Bad Axe MI | 2,943 | $45K | 20.2% | 5.6% | 25% | D |
| 4,173 | Edcouch TX | 2,650 | $22K | 38.3% | 14.7% | 10% | D |
| 4,174 | Munising Township MI | 2,759 | $62K | 15.9% | 7.0% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Bad Axe, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 17% of Bad Axe
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bad Axe workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bad Axe | – | D | A | 22 min | $44,688 |
| Colfax Township | 11% | C− | C | 29 min | $69,408 |
| Verona Township | 6% | C | C− | 15 min | $59,904 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Colfax Township. Darker towns draw more of Bad Axe’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 Bad Axe: questions
What is the median household income in Bad Axe?
$44,688 (±$10,657) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bad Axe?
20.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bad Axe?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bad Axe work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Colfax Township (11%, 3 mi), Winsor Township (6%, 15 mi), Verona Township (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Bad Axe walkable?
Bad Axe is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bad Axe without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bad Axe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bad Axe
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.