Albert E. Sleeper House · Photo: Postcard · Public domainWhere Colfax Township earns its living
1% of workers have no commute at all, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole. The two grades for Colfax Township are C− for jobs and income and C for walkability. About one in ten work in Colfax Township; the top destination outside it is Bad Axe (23%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Colfax Township apart on work
Colfax Township is where the jobs are
Colfax Township has 1,220 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A lot of Colfax Township works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Colfax Township: Bad Axe (23%) and Verona Township (8%). Next door ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 709 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Colfax Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Colfax Township is better than 17% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Colfax Township’s grade up ($69,408, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (4.9%) is left out: Colfax Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 and poverty, Colfax Township could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily flow of workers through Colfax Township
On a workday 634 residents head out to work, 75 work right here, and 1,145 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Colfax Township on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
Colfax Township’s commute, mile by mile
About 32% 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.
The daily trip into Colfax Township
Where Colfax 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.
The kinds of work in Colfax Township
1,220 jobs are based in Colfax Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colfax Township, 2011 → 2021: 1,341 → 1,220. 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 Colfax Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Colfax Township, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colfax Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 829 commuters (the 1% 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.
In Colfax Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colfax Township is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Colfax Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 835 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). 2.7% of Colfax Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Colfax Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Colfax Township is 4,303rd of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 249 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,301 | Lexington OK | 2,046 | $47K | 25.7% | 5.5% | 10% | C− |
| 4,302 | Gleason TN | 1,353 | $58K | 13.9% | 3.3% | 3% | C− |
| 4,303 | Colfax Township MI | 1,704 | $69K | 17.3% | 4.9% | 11% | C− |
| 4,304 | Wright Township MI | 1,600 | $54K | 10.9% | 6.9% | 5% | C− |
| 4,305 | Genesee NY | 1,590 | $66K | 14.1% | 10.3% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Colfax Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Colfax Township and its neighbors: 31% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Colfax Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colfax Township | – | C− | C | 29 min | $69,408 |
| Bad Axe | 23% | D | A | 22 min | $44,688 |
| Oliver Township | under 2% | D | B | 17 min | $55,938 |
| Meade Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Verona Township | 8% | C | C− | 15 min | $59,904 |
| Sheridan Township | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Meade Township and Sheridan Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bad Axe. Darker towns draw more of Colfax 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 Colfax Township: questions
What is the median household income in Colfax Township?
$69,408 (±$8,947) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colfax Township?
17.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colfax Township?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colfax Township work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bad Axe (23%, 3 mi), Verona Township (8%, 7 mi), Winsor Township (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Colfax Township walkable?
Colfax Township is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colfax Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Colfax Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colfax 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.