Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Benton Heights
The trip to work takes 15 minutes on average, next to 24 for Michigan and 26 for the U.S. Home is the office for 4% of workers; Michigan has 14%. Only 6% stay in Benton Heights for work; outside it, Benton Township is the main destination (21%, 1 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Benton Heights stands out on work
Benton Heights makes and builds things
56% of the jobs based in Benton Heights are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Benton Heights residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Benton Heights workers earn over $40,000 a year
32% of Benton Heights’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 26% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Benton Heights are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
Benton Heights has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Benton Heights went from 563 in 2011 to 898 in 2021, +60%. The jobs ↓
Few Benton Heights workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Factories, building and farms: 56% of the jobs in Benton Heights
898 jobs are based in Benton Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Benton Heights, 2011 → 2021: 563 → 898. 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 Benton Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Benton Heights takes about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Benton Heights workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,241 commuters (the 4% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Benton Heights
On a workday 1,012 residents head out to work, 65 work right here, and 833 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 (0.83 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.
Where the trip to work from Benton Heights ends
Where Benton Heights clocks in
6% 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.
How far Benton Heights goes to work
About 30% 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.
How Benton Heights compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Benton Harbor (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Benton Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton Heights | – | — | — | 15 min | $33,542 |
| Benton Harbor | 3% | D | A− | 18 min | $31,117 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Benton Heights’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 Benton Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Benton Heights?
$33,542 (±$20,229) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Benton Heights?
39.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Benton Heights?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Benton Heights work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Benton Township (21%, 1 mi), Grand Rapids (7%, 70 mi), St. Joseph (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Benton Heights without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Benton Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Benton Heights
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.