Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Berkley commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Household incomes here are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns. There are 4,181 jobs in Berkley, against 7,726 working residents. For jobs and income Berkley is better than 97% of U.S. towns (A+); for walkability it is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Berkley: the figures worth knowing
The better-paid jobs are outside Berkley
71% of Berkley residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Berkley pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Berkley
23% of Berkley workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. 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.
Jobs & income in Berkley: the grade in detail
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Berkley’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
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 fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Berkley could be anywhere from A to A+.
What Berkley’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berkley, 2011 → 2021: 4,937 → 4,181. 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 Berkley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Berkley’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berkley workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,012 commuters (the 23% 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.
Berkley quiets down on a workday
On a workday 7,452 residents head out to work, 274 work right here, and 3,907 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Berkley on a workday afternoon, 23% 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.
14% of working residents work in Detroit
Where Berkley clocks in
9% 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.
The commute from Berkley, by distance
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 Berkley, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,058 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.7% of Berkley households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Berkley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Berkley places 74th of 1,969 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Southfield Township MI | 14,671 | $185K | 4.7% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Honeygo MD | 12,250 | $146K | 1.8% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| 73 | Timnath CO | 11,600 | $178K | 4.4% | 0.6% | 2% | A+ |
| 74 | Berkley MI | 15,145 | $116K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| 75 | Lake Elmo MN | 14,376 | $154K | 4.8% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| 76 | New Providence NJ | 14,092 | $162K | 2.1% | 3.8% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | East Grand Rapids MI | 11,663 | $167K | 3.6% | 3.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,969 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Berkley, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Berkley and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Royal Oak (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Berkley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkley | – | A+ | B+ | 22 min | $116,239 |
| Royal Oak | 6% | A | B+ | 24 min | $101,109 |
| Oak Park | under 3% | C+ | B+ | 23 min | $71,510 |
| Huntington Woods | under 3% | A+ | A− | 21 min | $190,150 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Berkley’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 Berkley: questions
What is the median household income in Berkley?
$116,239 (±$10,989) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berkley?
4.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berkley?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Berkley work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (14%, 9 mi), Troy (9%, 6 mi), Southfield (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Berkley walkable?
Berkley is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berkley without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Berkley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berkley
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.