Most of Bear Lake Township commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Only 5% work in Bear Lake Township; the top destination outside it is Manistee Township (13%, 9 miles). 285 jobs are based in Bear Lake Township; 541 of its residents have a job. Bear Lake Township grades C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bear Lake Township stands out on work
The quickest commute around
Bear Lake Township’s 22-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 25 to 26 minutes. Next door ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bear Lake Township than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bear Lake Township fell from 394 in 2011 to 285 in 2021, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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 541 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Bear Lake Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Bear Lake Township is better than 42% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Bear Lake Township’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (4.8%) is left out: Bear Lake 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 three years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bear Lake Township could be anywhere from C to B−.
34% of the jobs in Bear Lake Township make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bear Lake Township, 2011 → 2021: 394 → 285. 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 Bear Lake Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Bear Lake Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 512 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 256 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Bear Lake Township on a workday afternoon, 14% 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.
The towns that employ Bear Lake Township’s residents
Where Bear Lake Township clocks in
13% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
About 22 minutes each way for Bear Lake Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bear Lake Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 757 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where in the region Bear Lake Township works
About 28% 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 commute in Bear Lake Township is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bear Lake Township is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 831 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). 1.3% of Bear Lake Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bear Lake Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,343 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400, Bear Lake Township comes 2,480th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 2,478 | Mapleton ME | 1,909 | $92K | 8.9% | 4.5% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,479 | Onekama Township MI | 1,328 | $70K | 4.0% | 1.8% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,480 | Bear Lake Township MI | 1,806 | $73K | 4.5% | 4.8% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,481 | Van Buren Township OH | 1,523 | $76K | 11.9% | 2.2% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,482 | Seneca IL | 2,310 | $87K | 22.2% | 4.0% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Bear Lake Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Bear Lake Township
The biggest share goes to Onekama Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bear Lake Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Lake Township | – | C+ | C | 22 min | $72,958 |
| Maple Grove Township | under 3% | D− | B− | 26 min | $58,452 |
| Brown Township | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Onekama Township | 6% | C+ | B+ | 25 min | $70,380 |
| Pleasanton Township | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Brown Township and Pleasanton Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bear Lake 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 Bear Lake Township: questions
What is the median household income in Bear Lake Township?
$72,958 (±$6,643) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bear Lake Township?
4.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bear Lake Township?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bear Lake Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manistee Township (13%, 9 mi), Onekama Township (6%, 5 mi), Arcadia Township (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Bear Lake Township walkable?
Bear Lake Township is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bear Lake Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bear Lake Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bear Lake 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.