A job hub: Berrien Springs has 2.0 jobs per working resident, and 1,263 people come in to work
Jobs and income earn Berrien Springs C; getting around on foot earns it A. Berrien Springs has 1,313 jobs, and 666 of its residents work somewhere. The average commute takes 18 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Berrien Springs, in brief
Berrien Springs is where the jobs are
Berrien Springs has 1,313 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Berrien Springs and Oronoko Township trade workers both ways
Oronoko Township is the top workplace for Berrien Springs residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Berrien Springs come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Berrien Springs is services
91% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 6% are in factories, building or farms. 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 666 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Berrien Springs’ grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Berrien Springs is better than 31% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Berrien Springs’ grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
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, Berrien Springs could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who leaves Berrien Springs for work, and who comes in
On a workday 616 residents head out to work and 50 work right here.
About 2,400 people are in Berrien Springs on a workday afternoon, 37% more 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.
Where Berrien Springs’s workers come from
Where Berrien Springs clocks in
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.
In Berrien Springs, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berrien Springs, 2011 → 2021: 1,239 → 1,313. 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 Berrien Springs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes to work from Berrien Springs
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berrien Springs workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 826 commuters (the 14% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Berrien Springs
About 25% 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.
Berrien Springs is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Berrien Springs is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Berrien Springs 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 960 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). 8.2% of Berrien Springs households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Berrien Springs’ commuters take a bus or train.
Berrien Springs places 3,569th of 6,085 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 218 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 263 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,567 | Wolcott VT | 1,672 | $70K | 9.3% | 3.7% | 3% | C |
| 3,568 | Hydesville CA | 1,263 | $97K | 17.0% | 10.7% | 4% | C |
| 3,569 | Berrien Springs MI | 1,767 | $65K | 13.4% | 6.5% | 8% | C |
| 3,570 | Gilbert MN | 1,644 | $65K | 8.8% | 2.2% | 5% | C |
| 3,571 | Nottawa Township MI | 2,225 | $79K | 8.6% | 6.8% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | 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 Berrien Springs, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Berrien Springs and its neighbors: 24% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Berrien Springs workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berrien Springs | – | C | A | 18 min | $65,134 |
| Oronoko Township | 24% | C+ | A− | 20 min | $60,175 |
| Berrien Township | under 3% | B | C | 24 min | $79,148 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Oronoko Township. Darker towns draw more of Berrien Springs’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 Berrien Springs: questions
What is the median household income in Berrien Springs?
$65,134 (±$7,139) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berrien Springs?
13.4%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berrien Springs?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Berrien Springs work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oronoko Township (24%, 3 mi), Grand Rapids (5%, 78 mi), St. Joseph (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Berrien Springs walkable?
Berrien Springs is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berrien Springs without a car?
0% 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 Berrien Springs, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berrien Springs
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.