Jobs, income and commuting in Bethany Township, MI
Only 3% work in Bethany Township itself; outside it, Alma draws the most (18%, 6 miles). Jobs and income earn Bethany Township B+; getting around on foot earns it C+. Home is the office for 5% of workers (Michigan 14%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Bethany Township in brief
Stores, warehouses and trucking
59% of the jobs in Bethany Township are in trade, transport and utilities, against 17% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bethany Township than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bethany Township fell from 756 in 2011 to 490 in 2021, −35%. 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 ↓
Bethany Township makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Bethany Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bethany Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. 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 639 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Bethany Township
On income, poverty and job access, Bethany Township is better than 67% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Bethany Township’s grade up (3.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.4%) is left out: Bethany 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 two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bethany Township could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Goods jobs make up 35% of work in Bethany Township
490 jobs are based in Bethany Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethany Township, 2011 → 2021: 756 → 490. 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 Bethany Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Bethany Township
On a workday 619 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 470 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Bethany Township on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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 Bethany Township ends
Where Bethany Township clocks in
18% of workers
10% 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 long Bethany Township spends getting to work: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethany Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 522 commuters (the 5% 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 Bethany Township works
About 20% 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.
Bethany Township is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethany Township is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 548 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). 2.0% of Bethany Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bethany Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Bethany Township is 937th among 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 151 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 175 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 935 | St. Francis Township IL | 1,164 | $82K | 2.9% | 2.2% | 1% | B+ |
| 936 | Walnut Township IN | 1,369 | $79K | 4.5% | 9.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 937 | Bethany Township MI | 1,291 | $80K | 3.8% | 1.4% | 3% | B+ |
| 938 | Rolling WI | 1,449 | $95K | 3.6% | 4.3% | 5% | B+ |
| 939 | La Honda CA | 1,269 | $250K | 5.0% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Bethany Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
13% of Bethany Township works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to St. Louis (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bethany Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethany Township | – | B+ | C+ | 23 min | $80,461 |
| St. Louis | 10% | C+ | C+ | 16 min | $51,167 |
| Emerson Township | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Jasper Township | under 3% | B− | D | 24 min | $80,417 |
| Wheeler Township | under 3% | C | B− | 27 min | $61,149 |
| Pine River Township | 3% | B− | C+ | 21 min | $71,073 |
Same-state neighbors only. Emerson Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bethany 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 Bethany Township: questions
What is the median household income in Bethany Township?
$80,461 (±$16,493) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethany Township?
3.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethany Township?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethany Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alma (18%, 6 mi), St. Louis (10%, 4 mi), Ithaca (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Bethany Township walkable?
Bethany Township is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethany Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethany Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethany 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.