More people are out of work in Capac (9.0%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
For 5% of workers, the job is at home, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole. Capac grades C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 6% stay in Capac for work; outside it, Mussey Township is the main destination (8%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Capac apart on work
Fewer jobs are based in Capac than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Capac fell from 727 in 2011 to 319 in 2021, −56%. 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 ↓
Capac workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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 871 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Capac’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Capac is better than 19% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Capac’s grade up (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
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, Capac could be anywhere from D to B−.
Making and building: 30% of jobs based in Capac
319 jobs are based in Capac.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Capac, 2011 → 2021: 727 → 319. 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 Capac’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Capac: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Capac workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 893 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.
Who commutes out of Capac, and who commutes in
On a workday 823 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 271 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Capac on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.37 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 Capac’s working residents head each day
Where Capac clocks in
4% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Capac
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 Capac, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Capac is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 941 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). 1.6% of Capac households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Capac’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Capac is 3,859th of 5,234 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 196 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,857 | Argos IN | 1,761 | $62K | 19.4% | 8.6% | 7% | C− |
| 3,858 | Bedford IA | 1,474 | $61K | 10.0% | 7.0% | 18% | C− |
| 3,859 | Capac MI | 1,943 | $60K | 12.5% | 9.0% | 6% | C− |
| 3,860 | Mitchell NE | 1,513 | $54K | 11.1% | 3.9% | 11% | C− |
| 3,861 | Durand WI | 1,854 | $59K | 13.5% | 4.6% | 16% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | 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 Capac, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Capac: questions
What is the median household income in Capac?
$60,329 (±$10,472) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Capac?
12.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Capac?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Capac work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mussey Township (8%, 2 mi), Bruce Township (6%, 12 mi), Sterling Heights (4%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Capac walkable?
Capac is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Capac without a car?
<1% 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 Capac, from the people who make the trip.
More of Capac
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.