Work, pay and getting to work in Central Lake
The average commute, 25 minutes each way, matches the Michigan norm. Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole. About one in ten stay in Central Lake for work; outside it, Kearney Township is the main destination (17%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The workday shuffle in and out of Central Lake
On a workday 248 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 209 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.
The places Central Lake commutes to
Where Central Lake clocks in
Lines 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.
44% of the jobs in Central Lake make or build things
237 jobs are based in Central Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Central Lake, 2011 → 2021: 110 → 237. 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 Central Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Central Lake spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Central Lake workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 396 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.
The commute from Central Lake, by distance
About 25% 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.
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 Central Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Central Lake?
$63,269 (±$6,938) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Central Lake?
8.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Central Lake?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Central Lake work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kearney Township (17%, 8 mi), Central Lake Township (12%, 1 mi), East Jordan (10%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Central Lake 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 Central Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Central Lake
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.