Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Baldwin are among the lowest of any U.S. town
38.9% of residents live below the poverty line, where Michigan as a whole has 13.2%. Measured by household income, Baldwin is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. For jobs and income Baldwin is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Baldwin
Baldwin is where the jobs are
Baldwin has 677 jobs, 3.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,500 people are in town, 44% more than the 1,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
53% 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 ↓
Baldwin has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Baldwin went from 346 in 2011 to 677 in 2021, +96%. 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; with 227 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Baldwin’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Baldwin is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Baldwin’s grade.
Unemployment (6.6%) is left out: Baldwin’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 firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Baldwin stays D−.
The daily flow of workers through Baldwin
On a workday 204 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 654 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Baldwin on a workday afternoon, 44% more than live here.
3.0 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.
How far Baldwin’s workers travel
About 53% 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.
In Baldwin, services account for most jobs
677 jobs are based in Baldwin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Baldwin, 2011 → 2021: 346 → 677. 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 Baldwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Baldwin’s workforce comes from
Where Baldwin 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.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Baldwin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Baldwin workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 387 commuters (the 2% 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 Baldwin, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 394 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). 20.4% of Baldwin households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Baldwin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Baldwin and other U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | Petersburg MI | 1,152 | $83K | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Freedom Township MI | 1,298 | $113K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,102 | Marshall AR | 1,320 | $28K | 31.8% | 4.8% | 30% | D− |
| 3,103 | Edison GA | 1,145 | $29K | 40.6% | 13.6% | 7% | D− |
| 3,104 | Baldwin MI | 1,025 | $25K | 38.9% | 6.6% | 10% | D− |
| 3,105 | Winfield TN | 1,037 | $34K | 28.4% | 4.2% | <1% | D− |
| 3,106 | Pinon AZ | 1,159 | $46K | 43.2% | 29.8% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Baldwin, 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 Baldwin: questions
What is the median household income in Baldwin?
$25,250 (±$4,239) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Baldwin?
38.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Baldwin?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Baldwin work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pleasant Plains Township (10%, 3 mi), Webber Township (8%, 4 mi), Grand Rapids (6%, 65 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Baldwin walkable?
Baldwin is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Baldwin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Baldwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Baldwin
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.