Photo: Forevercry · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Bridgman are lower than in 64% of U.S. towns
For 6% of workers, the job is at home, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. 14.5% of residents live below the poverty line; Michigan has 13.2%. The two grades for Bridgman are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bridgman stands out on work
Fewer jobs are based in Bridgman than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bridgman fell from 2,003 in 2011 to 912 in 2021, −54%. 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 ↓
Bridgman makes and builds things
46% of the jobs based in Bridgman are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bridgman residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Bridgman are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. 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; with 896 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Bridgman
On income, poverty and job access, Bridgman is better than 34% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Bridgman’s grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: Bridgman’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, Bridgman could be anywhere from C− to B.
A place that makes things: 46% of Bridgman’s jobs are in goods
912 jobs are based in Bridgman.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bridgman, 2011 → 2021: 2,003 → 912. 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 Bridgman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Bridgman: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bridgman workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 838 commuters (the 6% 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.
How a workday changes Bridgman
On a workday 815 residents head out to work, 81 work right here, and 831 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 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.
10% of working residents work in Lake Township
Where Bridgman clocks in
9% 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 many miles Bridgman commutes
About 22% 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.
Driving is how Bridgman gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bridgman is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 896 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 Bridgman households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bridgman’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bridgman next to U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800: 3,338th of 5,793 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 225 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,336 | Owen Township IN | 1,630 | $75K | 8.0% | 1.1% | 1% | C |
| 3,337 | Ruhenstroth NV | 1,682 | $105K | 14.1% | 0.4% | 1% | C |
| 3,338 | Bridgman MI | 2,040 | $67K | 14.5% | 2.4% | 9% | C |
| 3,339 | Weimar TX | 2,197 | $48K | 8.1% | 3.0% | 20% | C |
| 3,340 | Morrisville VT | 2,404 | $68K | 17.8% | 2.8% | 18% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bridgman, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
10% of Bridgman works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bridgman workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgman | – | C | B+ | 19 min | $66,603 |
| Lake Township | 10% | B | C | 27 min | $83,241 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lake Township. Darker towns draw more of Bridgman’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 Bridgman: questions
What is the median household income in Bridgman?
$66,603 (±$11,848) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bridgman?
14.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bridgman?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bridgman work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Township (10%, 2 mi), St. Joseph (9%, 12 mi), Lincoln Township (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Bridgman walkable?
Bridgman is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bridgman 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 Bridgman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bridgman
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.