Photo: 42-BRT · CC BY-SA 4.0Center Line has 1.7 jobs for every working resident: 5,347 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C: better than 34% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #530 of 701 in Michigan.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns · #271 of 701 in Michigan.
Household incomes here are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 23 minutes each way (Michigan 24, U.S. 26). Only 4% work in Center Line; the top destination outside it is Warren (14%, 1 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Center Line
Stores, warehouses and trucking
62% of the jobs in Center Line are in trade, transport and utilities, against 21% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Center Line is where the jobs are
Center Line has 5,463 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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.
What’s behind Center Line’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Center Line is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #530 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Center Line’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($54,703, U.S. $80,734).
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, poverty and unemployment, Center Line could be anywhere from C− to B+.
What the 5,463 jobs in Center Line are
5,463 jobs are based in Center Line. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Center Line’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center Line, 2011 → 2021: 4,311 → 5,463. 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.
Center Line fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,074 residents head out to work, 116 work right here, and 5,347 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Center Line on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 Center Line’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Center Line clocks in
14% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 23 minutes each way, about the MI average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center Line workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,561 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Center Line commutes less than 10 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.
Most trips from Center Line start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Center Line is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #271 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 3,863 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 0.0 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). 14.0% of Center Line households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Center Line’s commuters take a bus or train.
Center Line is 2,150th of 2,922 U.S. towns of 6,000 to 11,500 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Center Line, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,148 | Marathon FL | 10,060 | $89K | 13.4% | 4.3% | 37% | C |
| 2,149 | Greenville IL | 7,469 | $62K | 11.3% | 4.5% | 32% | C |
| 2,150 | Center Line MI | 8,503 | $55K | 16.8% | 6.8% | 4% | C |
| 2,151 | Marengo IL | 7,737 | $74K | 15.7% | 9.8% | 9% | C |
| 2,152 | Newark NY | 8,919 | $60K | 22.2% | 3.0% | 25% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,922 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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.
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 Center Line: questions
What is the median household income in Center Line?
$54,703 (±$11,997) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center Line?
16.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Center Line?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center Line work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warren (14%, 1 mi), Detroit (13%, 8 mi), Troy (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Center Line walkable?
Center Line is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Center Line without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center Line, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center Line
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.