Photo: Drdpw · CC BY-SA 4.0Cass City’s household incomes are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 1% of workers, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole. Poverty touches 21.2% of residents, where Michigan as a whole has 13.2%. The two grades for Cass City are D 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
What stands out about work in Cass City
Cass City and Elkland Township trade workers both ways
Elkland Township is the top workplace for Cass City residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Cass City come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Cass City workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 873 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Cass City
On income, poverty and job access, Cass City is better than 6% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Cass City’s grade.
Unemployment (5.4%) is left out: Cass City’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, Cass City could be anywhere from D− to C−.
23% of working residents work in Elkland Township
Where Cass City 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.
Cass City’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cass City workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 799 commuters (the 1% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Cass City
On a workday 681 residents head out to work, 192 work right here, and 1,061 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Cass City on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 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.
Cass City works in goods: 29% of its jobs
1,253 jobs are based in Cass City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cass City, 2011 → 2021: 1,490 → 1,253. 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 Cass City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Cass City works
About 27% 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.
For most of Cass City, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cass City is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 808 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). 7.6% of Cass City households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cass City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Cass City sits among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,400
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,970 | Buck Township OH | 2,340 | $43K | 24.1% | 3.2% | 13% | D |
| 4,971 | Olathe CO | 1,927 | $56K | 25.5% | 6.0% | 8% | D |
| 4,972 | Cass City MI | 2,487 | $53K | 21.2% | 5.4% | 22% | D |
| 4,973 | Granby MO | 2,113 | $49K | 25.6% | 13.7% | 4% | D |
| 4,974 | Vale OR | 2,055 | $50K | 16.4% | 4.8% | 28% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,401 | 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 Cass City, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Cass City and its neighbors: 23% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cass City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cass City | – | D | B− | 22 min | $53,000 |
| Elkland Township | 23% | D | C | 27 min | $61,953 |
| Novesta Township | under 2% | D | C− | 25 min | $53,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Elkland Township. Darker towns draw more of Cass 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 Cass City: questions
What is the median household income in Cass City?
$53,000 (±$8,194) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cass City?
21.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cass City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cass City work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elkland Township (23%, 2 mi), Caro (9%, 14 mi), Winsor Township (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Cass City walkable?
Cass City is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cass City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cass City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cass 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.