Photo: John Menard from Phoenix, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Hardly anyone in Chikaming Township is out of work
29% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Michigan. For jobs and income Chikaming Township is better than 83% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in five work in Chikaming Township itself; outside it, New Buffalo Township draws the most (6%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Chikaming Township apart on work
Home offices are common in Chikaming Township
29% of Chikaming Township workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
Chikaming Township has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Chikaming Township went from 496 in 2011 to 794 in 2021, +60%. The jobs ↓
Chikaming Township’s workforce skews older
42% of Chikaming Township’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. 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 900 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Chikaming Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment is its strongest input (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
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, Chikaming Township could be anywhere from B+ to A.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Michigan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chikaming Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 801 commuters (the 29% 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 work there is in Chikaming Township: 794 jobs
794 jobs are based in Chikaming Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chikaming Township, 2011 → 2021: 496 → 794. 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 Chikaming Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Chikaming Township by day
On a workday 734 residents head out to work, 166 work right here, and 628 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 (0.88 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 towns that employ Chikaming Township’s residents
Where Chikaming Township clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
Miles to work from Chikaming Township
About 29% 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.
Most trips from Chikaming Township start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,124 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). 8.9% of Chikaming Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Chikaming Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700, Chikaming Township comes 657th 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 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 226 | Milton Township MI | 3,187 | $119K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 655 | Lodi WI | 3,190 | $118K | 5.1% | 3.9% | 10% | A− |
| 656 | Washington Township IN | 2,571 | $84K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| 657 | Chikaming Township MI | 2,752 | $84K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 18% | A− |
| 658 | Clinton Township PA | 2,824 | $85K | 5.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A− |
| 659 | Pendergrass GA | 1,919 | $90K | 4.2% | 3.3% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Chikaming Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Chikaming Township compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chikaming Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chikaming Township | – | A− | C+ | 30 min | $83,908 |
| Weesaw Township | under 3% | C | C | 22 min | $58,077 |
| Three Oaks Township | 3% | B− | B | 18 min | $68,438 |
| Lake Township | under 3% | B | C | 27 min | $83,241 |
| New Buffalo Township | 6% | C+ | B | 25 min | $92,188 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to New Buffalo Township. Darker towns draw more of Chikaming 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 Chikaming Township: questions
What is the median household income in Chikaming Township?
$83,908 (±$10,115) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chikaming Township?
5.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chikaming Township?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chikaming Township work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Buffalo Township (6%, 7 mi), Grand Rapids (5%, 91 mi), St. Joseph (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Chikaming Township walkable?
Chikaming Township is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chikaming Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chikaming Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chikaming 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.