Photo: brewbooks · CC BY-SA 2.0At 6.4%, unemployment in Cedar Springs is higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Cedar Springs are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 77% of U.S. towns. 6% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Michigan.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Cedar Springs: the gist
Cedar Springs makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Cedar Springs are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Cedar Springs residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Cedar Springs workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 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.
Cedar Springs’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cedar Springs is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #581 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Cedar Springs’ grade up (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
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, Cedar Springs could be anywhere from D to B+.
Goods, not services: 40% of the jobs in Cedar Springs
2,062 jobs are based in Cedar Springs.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cedar Springs, 2011 → 2021: 1,755 → 2,062. 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 Cedar Springs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Cedar Springs: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cedar Springs workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,683 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.
Cedar Springs by day and by night
On a workday 1,412 residents head out to work, 98 work right here, and 1,964 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Cedar Springs on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 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.
19% of working residents work in Grand Rapids
Where Cedar Springs clocks in
5% 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 far Cedar Springs’ workers travel
About 20% 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 Cedar Springs gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cedar Springs is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #156 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Cedar Springs near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,784 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.1% of Cedar Springs households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cedar Springs’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Cedar Springs is 3,177th of 4,153 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,175 | Tinicum Township PA | 3,985 | $53K | 19.3% | 13.0% | 9% | C |
| 3,176 | South Chicago Heights IL | 3,884 | $59K | 30.5% | 7.8% | 4% | C |
| 3,177 | Cedar Springs MI | 3,789 | $58K | 22.2% | 6.4% | 6% | C |
| 3,178 | Raeford NC | 4,703 | $46K | 20.7% | 3.8% | 20% | C |
| 3,179 | Saranac Lake NY | 4,793 | $62K | 17.7% | 3.0% | 25% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | 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 Cedar Springs, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Cedar Springs
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cedar Springs workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Springs | – | C | B+ | 29 min | $57,979 |
| Solon Township | under 2% | A− | D | 28 min | $86,958 |
| Nelson Township | under 2% | B | C− | 28 min | $66,735 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cedar Springs’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 Cedar Springs: questions
What is the median household income in Cedar Springs?
$57,979 (±$11,114) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cedar Springs?
22.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cedar Springs?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cedar Springs work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (19%, 19 mi), Walker (5%, 18 mi), Plainfield Township (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Cedar Springs walkable?
Cedar Springs is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cedar Springs without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cedar Springs, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cedar Springs
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.