Cato Township has higher unemployment (8.4%) than 90% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Cato Township itself; outside it, Grand Rapids draws the most (11%, 37 miles). Jobs and income earn Cato Township D; getting around on foot earns it B−. Working residents average 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Cato Township stands out on work
Cato Township trades workers with the towns around it
Cato Township has about as many jobs (953) as working residents (1,106), but they are mostly different people: 974 residents leave for work each day while 821 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in Cato Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Cato Township’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cato Township is Grand Rapids, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (127) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Cato Township has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Cato Township went from 590 in 2011 to 953 in 2021, +62%. The jobs ↓
Cato Township 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 ↓
Cato Township makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Cato Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Cato Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Cato Township
Household income holds Cato Township’s grade up ($67,500, U.S. $80,734); 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, Cato Township could be anywhere from D− to B.
Who leaves Cato Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 974 residents head out to work, 132 work right here, and 821 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 (0.86 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.
How far it is to work from Cato Township
About 26% 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.
Goods, not services: 36% of the jobs in Cato Township
953 jobs are based in Cato Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cato Township, 2011 → 2021: 590 → 953. 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 Cato Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Cato Township, about 31 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cato Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,029 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where Cato Township’s working residents head each day
Where Cato Township clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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.
Few in Cato Township walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cato Township is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #249 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,136 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). 9.5% of Cato Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cato Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100, Cato Township ranks 4,215th of 4,771 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | Heath Township MI | 4,017 | $105K | 1.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,213 | Ranger TX | 2,335 | $34K | 23.3% | 3.5% | 12% | D |
| 4,214 | Elkland Township MI | 3,485 | $62K | 15.2% | 7.7% | 23% | D |
| 4,215 | Cato Township MI | 3,002 | $68K | 17.1% | 8.4% | 12% | D |
| 4,216 | Bangor NY | 2,201 | $65K | 19.0% | 0.3% | 2% | D |
| 4,217 | Pierre Part LA | 2,308 | $60K | 18.8% | 8.7% | 11% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Cato Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Cato Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cato Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cato Township | – | D | B− | 31 min | $67,500 |
| Belvidere Township | under 2% | D | D− | 33 min | $59,891 |
| Hinton Township | under 2% | C | C+ | 38 min | $60,368 |
| Pine Township | under 2% | C | D | 37 min | $82,966 |
| Winfield Township | under 2% | B | C | 31 min | $74,189 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cato Township’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 Cato Township: questions
What is the median household income in Cato Township?
$67,500 (±$12,761) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cato Township?
17.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cato Township?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cato Township work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (11%, 37 mi), Greenville (5%, 16 mi), Lansing (3%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Cato Township walkable?
Cato Township is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cato Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cato Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cato Township
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.