Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Colon earn less than those in 76% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 14.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan. For jobs and income Colon is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+). Only 8% stay in Colon for work; outside it, Sturgis is the main destination (10%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Colon apart
Fewer jobs are based in Colon than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Colon fell from 633 in 2011 to 373 in 2021, −41%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Colon
57% of Colon residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 34% of the jobs based in Colon pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Colon makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Colon are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Colon residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 49%. 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 499 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Colon’s grade
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Colon’s grade.
Unemployment (5.6%) is left out: Colon’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, Colon could be anywhere from D to C+.
A place that makes things: 36% of Colon’s jobs are in goods
373 jobs are based in Colon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colon, 2011 → 2021: 633 → 373. 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 Colon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Colon on a workday
On a workday 460 residents head out to work, 39 work right here, and 334 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Colon on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.75 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where people from Colon work
Where Colon 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.
Colon’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colon workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 606 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Colon
About 19% 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 Colon start in a car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 659 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). 16.4% of Colon households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Colon’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Colon ranks: 3,131st of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 271 | Petersburg MI | 1,152 | $83K | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 319 | Milan Township MI | 1,540 | $96K | 6.0% | 4.1% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,129 | Center Township KS | 1,325 | $65K | 11.3% | 0.1% | 42% | C− |
| 3,130 | DeLand Southwest FL | 1,024 | $43K | 45.2% | 0.0% | 0% | C− |
| 3,131 | Colon MI | 1,182 | $59K | 14.3% | 5.6% | 8% | C− |
| 3,132 | Gleason TN | 1,353 | $58K | 13.9% | 3.3% | 3% | C− |
| 3,133 | Wright Township MI | 1,600 | $54K | 10.9% | 6.9% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Colon, 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 Colon: questions
What is the median household income in Colon?
$58,542 (±$10,265) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colon?
14.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colon?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colon work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sturgis (10%, 13 mi), Colon Township (8%, 2 mi), Lockport Township (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Colon walkable?
Colon is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Colon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colon
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.