Boyne City Central Historic District · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Boyne City have lower incomes than those in 66% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Boyne City for work; outside it, Petoskey is the main destination (9%, 11 miles). The poverty rate is 7.8%; Michigan has 13.2%. Jobs and income earn Boyne City C; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Boyne City
Commutes from Boyne City 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, and quicker than any town next door (18 to 23 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Boyne City makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Boyne City are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Boyne City 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Boyne City
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Boyne City is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #528 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate holds Boyne City’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns).
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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Boyne City could be anywhere from D to B+.
Getting to work from Boyne City takes about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Boyne City workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,637 commuters (the 15% 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.
A place that makes things: 40% of Boyne City’s jobs are in goods
1,991 jobs are based in Boyne City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Boyne City, 2011 → 2021: 2,032 → 1,991. 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 Boyne City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Boyne City by day
On a workday 1,220 residents head out to work, 344 work right here, and 1,647 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Boyne City on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 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.
The places Boyne City commutes to
Where Boyne City clocks in
9% of workers
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.
How far it is to work from Boyne City
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.
In Boyne City, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Boyne City is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #133 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Boyne City 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 1,918 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). 6.1% of Boyne City households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Boyne City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Boyne City is 2,809th of 4,153 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,807 | West Burlington IA | 3,358 | $49K | 23.8% | 1.8% | 21% | C |
| 2,808 | Garnett KS | 3,242 | $65K | 6.0% | 5.3% | 31% | C |
| 2,809 | Boyne City MI | 3,793 | $65K | 7.8% | 5.0% | 22% | C |
| 2,810 | Akron NY | 2,867 | $45K | 6.9% | 8.0% | 16% | C |
| 2,811 | Sparta Township IN | 2,959 | $65K | 8.3% | 4.2% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Boyne City, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Boyne City and its neighbors: 11% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Boyne City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boyne City | – | C | B+ | 15 min | $64,855 |
| Evangeline Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Wilson Township | 2% | B− | D− | 22 min | $94,844 |
| Boyne Valley Township | 9% | C+ | C | 23 min | $76,653 |
| Eveline Township | under 2% | B− | C | 23 min | $101,964 |
| Advance | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Evangeline Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Advance: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Boyne Valley Township. Darker towns draw more of Boyne City’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 Boyne City: questions
What is the median household income in Boyne City?
$64,855 (±$7,815) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Boyne City?
7.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Boyne City?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Boyne City work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Petoskey (9%, 11 mi), Boyne Valley Township (9%, 8 mi), Bear Creek Township (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Boyne City walkable?
Boyne City is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Boyne City without a car?
1% 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 Boyne City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Boyne City
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.