Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Bay City trail those of 89% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Bay City C−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Poverty touches 19.1% of residents, against 13.2% across Michigan. About one in five stay in Bay City for work; outside it, Saginaw is the main destination (7%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Bay City
Bay City trades workers with the towns around it
Bay City has about as many jobs (11,222) as working residents (11,557), but they are mostly different people: 9,218 residents leave for work each day while 8,883 people come in. Only 21% of the jobs in Bay City are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Bay City workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Bay City’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
Jobs & income in Bay City: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bay City is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #606 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Bay City’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,420, 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 three years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bay City could be anywhere from C− to C.
Who leaves Bay City for work, and who comes in
On a workday 9,218 residents head out to work, 2,339 work right here, and 8,883 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.97 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Bay City
11,222 jobs are based in Bay City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bay City, 2011 → 2021: 14,033 → 11,222. 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 Bay City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Bay City commutes to
Where Bay City clocks in
7% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
Commuting from Bay City: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bay City workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,074 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.
How far it is to work from Bay City
About 21% 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.
Bay City is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bay City is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #67 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Bay City 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 14,277 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). 12.2% of Bay City households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bay City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bay City next to U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Lyon Township MI | 26,867 | $146K | 4.8% | 3.1% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Independence Township MI | 37,725 | $115K | 4.3% | 2.9% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,258 | Shawnee OK | 32,474 | $56K | 20.8% | 6.0% | 28% | C− |
| 1,259 | Hopewell VA | 23,261 | $55K | 21.8% | 9.2% | 11% | C− |
| 1,260 | Bay City MI | 31,868 | $49K | 19.1% | 6.7% | 20% | C− |
| 1,261 | Lufkin TX | 34,350 | $57K | 18.0% | 7.0% | 45% | C− |
| 1,262 | Jacksonville AR | 29,460 | $50K | 19.8% | 8.4% | 12% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16% | 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 Bay City, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Bay City and its neighbors: 14% work next door
The biggest share goes to Bangor Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bay City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay City | – | C− | A− | 21 min | $49,420 |
| Bangor Township | 5% | C+ | C+ | 21 min | $60,661 |
| Portsmouth Township | 1% | B+ | C | 26 min | $79,310 |
| Frankenlust Township | under 2% | A− | C+ | 20 min | $92,685 |
| Hampton Township | 3% | C+ | C | 24 min | $51,728 |
| Essexville | under 2% | B+ | B− | 19 min | $75,341 |
| Monitor Township | 5% | B+ | C− | 25 min | $76,563 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bay City’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 Bay City: questions
What is the median household income in Bay City?
$49,420 (±$2,180) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bay City?
19.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bay City?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bay City work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Saginaw (7%, 12 mi), Midland (7%, 17 mi), Saginaw Township (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Bay City walkable?
Bay City is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bay City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bay City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bay City
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.