Indian Trail Road-Belle River Bridge · Photo: Notorious4life · CC BY-SA 3.0At 10.7%, unemployment in China Township is higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are higher than in 76% of U.S. towns. The two grades for China Township are B for jobs and income and D for walkability. Only 5% work in China Township itself; outside it, Detroit draws the most (7%, 38 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in China Township, in a few figures
China Township makes and builds things
82% of the jobs based in China Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs China Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 29%. The jobs ↓
Jobs in China Township have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in China Township went from 738 in 2011 to 2,289 in 2021, +210%. The jobs ↓
China Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
China Township gains people on a workday
About 4,200 people are in China Township on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 3,500 who live here: 2,200 come in to work and 1,500 head out. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in China Township pay over $40,000 a year
72% of the jobs based in China Township pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in China Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, China Township is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #360 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate holds China Township’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
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, China Township could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
A place that makes things: 82% of China Township’s jobs are in goods
2,289 jobs are based in China Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in China Township, 2011 → 2021: 738 → 2,289. 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 China Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 30 minutes each way for China Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of China Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,422 commuters (the 9% 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.
China Township fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,487 residents head out to work, 86 work right here, and 2,203 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in China Township on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 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 China Township’s residents
Where China Township 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from China Township
About 16% 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.
In China Township, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, China Township is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #554 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,564 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). 7.4% of China Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of China Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
China Township places 1,959th of 4,355 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 144 | Dexter MI | 4,461 | $107K | 0.8% | 2.1% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,957 | South Point OH | 3,640 | $80K | 13.2% | 0.8% | 7% | B |
| 1,958 | Paxton IL | 4,323 | $62K | 8.6% | 1.6% | 21% | B |
| 1,959 | China Township MI | 3,530 | $99K | 3.7% | 10.7% | 5% | B |
| 1,960 | Littlefield Township MI | 3,192 | $85K | 8.0% | 2.8% | 4% | B |
| 1,961 | Dover Township OH | 4,394 | $79K | 10.0% | 4.6% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 China Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to China Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | China Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Township | – | B | D | 30 min | $98,879 |
| East China Township | under 3% | C | D | 35 min | $71,517 |
| Casco Township | under 3% | B | D | 28 min | $87,538 |
| St. Clair Township | under 3% | B+ | D | 27 min | $93,068 |
| St. Clair | 5% | B+ | B+ | 22 min | $69,688 |
| Marine City | 4% | C | A− | 31 min | $67,683 |
| Cottrellville Township | under 3% | A− | C− | 33 min | $91,897 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to St. Clair. Darker towns draw more of China 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 China Township: questions
What is the median household income in China Township?
$98,879 (±$25,035) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in China Township?
3.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from China Township?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in China Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (7%, 38 mi), St. Clair (5%, 5 mi), Marine City (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is China Township walkable?
China Township is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around China Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from China Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of China 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.