Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Belding’s household incomes are lower than in 73% of U.S. towns
Belding grades C for jobs and income and B for walkability. The poverty rate is 15.5% (Michigan 13.2%). 2% of workers work from home, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Belding, in a few figures
Few Belding workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Belding’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Belding is Grand Rapids, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (329) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
Why Belding gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Belding is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #574 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Belding’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Belding could be anywhere from D to B−.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Belding
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Belding workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,815 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.
Half of Belding commutes less than 22 miles
About 15% 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.
Belding by day and by night
On a workday 2,362 residents head out to work, 247 work right here, and 1,448 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in Belding on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
13% of working residents work in Grand Rapids
Where Belding clocks in
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.
34% of the jobs in Belding make or build things
1,695 jobs are based in Belding.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Belding, 2011 → 2021: 1,701 → 1,695. 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 Belding’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Belding walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Belding is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #187 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Belding 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 2,858 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). 8.3% of Belding households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Belding’s commuters take a bus or train.
Belding next to U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100: 2,643rd of 3,394 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,641 | Wildwood NJ | 5,068 | $75K | 13.7% | 7.4% | 18% | C |
| 2,642 | Bensley VA | 5,949 | $51K | 22.0% | 6.5% | 2% | C |
| 2,643 | Belding MI | 6,000 | $60K | 15.5% | 5.4% | 9% | C |
| 2,644 | Salem MO | 4,674 | $44K | 11.1% | 3.0% | 28% | C |
| 2,645 | Kutztown PA | 4,255 | $53K | 20.6% | 6.2% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Belding, 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 Belding: questions
What is the median household income in Belding?
$60,373 (±$6,214) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Belding?
15.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Belding?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Belding work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (13%, 23 mi), Greenville (7%, 6 mi), Ionia (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Belding walkable?
Belding is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Belding without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Belding, from the people who make the trip.
More of Belding
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.