With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Custer Township works elsewhere
The two grades for Custer Township are C for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Employers in Custer Township report 109 jobs, and 379 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any stay in Custer Township for work; outside it, Kearney Township is the main destination (17%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Custer Township: the gist
A lot of Custer Township works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Custer Township: Kearney Township (17%), Mancelona Township (5%) and Helena Township (3%). Next door ↓
Custer Township is a place people come home to
There are 109 jobs based in Custer Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
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 379 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Custer Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Custer Township is better than 31% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Custer Township’s grade up ($83,750, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (7.0%) is left out: Custer 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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Custer Township could be anywhere from D to B−.
The daily flow of workers through Custer Township
On a workday 376 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 106 people come in from elsewhere.
About 940 people are in Custer Township on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Custer Township: the destinations
Where Custer Township clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
Goods, not services: 38% of the jobs in Custer Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Custer Township, 2011 → 2021: 11 → 109. 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 Custer Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 26 minutes in Custer Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Custer Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 388 commuters (the 11% 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.
Half of Custer Township commutes less than 22 miles
About 24% 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 commute in Custer Township is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Custer Township is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 436 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). 6.4% of Custer Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Custer Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Custer Township is 2,343rd 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− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,341 | Watersmeet Township MI | 1,481 | $73K | 7.4% | 3.1% | 27% | C |
| 2,342 | Bark River Township MI | 1,585 | $69K | 7.4% | 3.2% | 5% | C |
| 2,343 | Custer Township MI | 1,213 | $84K | 10.7% | 7.0% | 1% | C |
| 2,344 | Liberty Township PA | 1,131 | $73K | 15.6% | 10.5% | <1% | C |
| 2,345 | La Cygne KS | 1,013 | $59K | 7.3% | 6.5% | 11% | 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 Custer Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 28% of Custer Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Custer Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custer Township | – | C | C− | 26 min | $83,750 |
| Helena Township | 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Forest Home Township | 3% | C | B+ | 22 min | $81,111 |
| Rapid River Township | under 3% | C+ | D | 29 min | $72,273 |
| Kearney Township | 17% | C− | C+ | 18 min | $72,153 |
| Mancelona Township | 5% | D | C+ | 28 min | $65,412 |
Same-state neighbors only. Helena Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kearney Township. Darker towns draw more of Custer 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 Custer Township: questions
What is the median household income in Custer Township?
$83,750 (±$19,196) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Custer Township?
10.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Custer Township?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Custer Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kearney Township (17%, 7 mi), Traverse City (6%, 24 mi), Mancelona Township (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Custer Township walkable?
Custer Township is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Custer Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Custer Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Custer 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.