Photo: Wookie52 · Public domainHow Byron Center works: jobs, income and commuting
A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes (Michigan 24, U.S. 26). Only 5% stay in Byron Center for work; outside it, Grand Rapids is the main destination (19%, 11 miles). There are 2,127 jobs in Byron Center for 3,166 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Byron Center by day and by night
On a workday 3,007 residents head out to work, 159 work right here, and 1,968 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,400 people are in Byron Center on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.67 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 people from Byron Center work
Where Byron Center clocks in
Lines 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.
What Byron Center’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Byron Center, 2011 → 2021: 2,020 → 2,127. 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 Byron Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Byron Center
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Byron Center workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,838 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.
How many miles Byron Center commutes
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.
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 Byron Center: questions
What is the median household income in Byron Center?
$122,553 (±$24,989) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Byron Center?
2.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Byron Center?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Byron Center work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (19%, 11 mi), Wyoming (13%, 6 mi), Byron Township (12%, 0 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Byron Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Byron Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Byron Center
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.