With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Bethel Township works elsewhere
Home is the office for 5% of workers; Michigan has 14%. 83 jobs are based in Bethel Township, against 602 working residents. The two grades for Bethel Township are D for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Bethel Township in brief
The figures behind Bethel Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Bethel Township is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Bethel Township’s grade up ($63,118, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (28.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Bethel 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 three years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bethel Township could be anywhere from D to C−.
The daily flow of workers through Bethel Township
On a workday 594 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 75 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Bethel Township on a workday afternoon, 35% 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.
20% of working residents work in Coldwater
Where Bethel Township clocks in
20% of workers
8% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 63% of the jobs in Bethel Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethel Township, 2011 → 2021: 70 → 83. 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 Bethel Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes to work from Bethel Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethel Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 499 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.
Miles to work from Bethel Township
About 21% 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.
Bethel Township is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethel Township is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Bethel Township 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 523 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). 6.2% of Bethel Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bethel Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bethel Township places 5,418th of 6,308 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 166 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,416 | Pleasant Hill Township IL | 1,178 | $57K | 14.9% | 2.3% | 8% | D |
| 5,417 | Otego Township IL | 1,382 | $54K | 18.2% | 3.0% | 5% | D |
| 5,418 | Bethel Township MI | 1,466 | $63K | 28.7% | 2.2% | 1% | D |
| 5,419 | Sheffield Township PA | 1,755 | $58K | 15.8% | 0.0% | 13% | D |
| 5,420 | Cohoe AK | 1,598 | $64K | 17.7% | 11.2% | — | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Bethel Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Bethel Township and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Bronson Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bethel Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel Township | – | D | D | 26 min | $63,118 |
| Ovid Township | under 2% | C | D− | 29 min | $73,411 |
| Batavia Township | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 23 min | $61,389 |
| Gilead Township | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Bronson Township | 2% | C+ | D− | 36 min | $77,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Gilead Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bethel 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 Bethel Township: questions
What is the median household income in Bethel Township?
$63,118 (±$4,912) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethel Township?
28.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethel Township?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethel Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Coldwater (20%, 9 mi), Sturgis (8%, 16 mi), Bronson (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Bethel Township walkable?
Bethel Township is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethel Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethel Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethel 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.