Photo: User:My name · CC BY 3.0Households in Charlevoix earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
About one in four stay in Charlevoix for work; outside it, Petoskey is the main destination (10%, 15 miles). Below the poverty line: 24.8% of residents, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. For jobs and income Charlevoix is better than 5% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Charlevoix
Charlevoix is where the jobs are
Charlevoix has 1,840 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,300 people are in town, 43% more than the 2,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Charlevoix are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Charlevoix workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Charlevoix’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 22% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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; with 835 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Charlevoix
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Charlevoix’s grade.
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, Charlevoix could be anywhere from D− to C+.
In and out of Charlevoix on a workday
On a workday 593 residents head out to work, 242 work right here, and 1,598 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Charlevoix on a workday afternoon, 43% more than live here.
2.2 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.
From Charlevoix, about 13 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charlevoix workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 959 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
What the 1,840 jobs in Charlevoix are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charlevoix, 2011 → 2021: 1,408 → 1,840. 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 Charlevoix’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Charlevoix
Where Charlevoix clocks in
10% of workers
8% 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.
Where in the region Charlevoix works
About 21% 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.
Charlevoix is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,045 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). 17.5% of Charlevoix households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Charlevoix’s commuters take a bus or train.
Charlevoix and other U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,914 | Loogootee IN | 2,633 | $50K | 26.4% | 8.5% | 16% | D |
| 4,915 | New Llano LA | 2,015 | $52K | 20.8% | 15.5% | 3% | D |
| 4,916 | Charlevoix MI | 2,325 | $48K | 24.8% | 7.1% | 29% | D |
| 4,917 | New Boston OH | 2,206 | $23K | 31.0% | 9.7% | 6% | D |
| 4,918 | Philippi WV | 2,846 | $46K | 29.5% | 8.1% | 21% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | 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 Charlevoix, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Charlevoix: questions
What is the median household income in Charlevoix?
$47,917 (±$11,966) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charlevoix?
24.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charlevoix?
13 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charlevoix work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Petoskey (10%, 15 mi), Charlevoix Township (8%, 1 mi), East Jordan (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Charlevoix walkable?
Charlevoix is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charlevoix without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charlevoix, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charlevoix
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.