Dafter Township has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
201 jobs are based in Dafter Township; 435 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Dafter Township are D for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 2% work in Dafter Township itself; outside it, Sault Ste. Marie draws the most (38%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Dafter Township at work: what stands out
Fewer jobs are based in Dafter Township than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Dafter Township fell from 1,838 in 2011 to 201 in 2021, −89%. 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 ↓
Dafter Township and Sault Ste. Marie trade workers both ways
Sault Ste. Marie is the top workplace for Dafter Township residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Dafter Township come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Dafter Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
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 435 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Dafter Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Dafter Township is better than 13% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Dafter Township’s grade up ($65,588, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.1%) is left out: Dafter 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, Dafter Township could be anywhere from D− to B−.
What Dafter Township’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dafter Township, 2011 → 2021: 1,838 → 201. 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 Dafter Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Dafter Township goes to work
Where Dafter Township clocks in
38% of workers
7% 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.
Getting to work from Dafter Township takes about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dafter Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 613 commuters (the 13% 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.
Who works in Dafter Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 428 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 194 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Dafter Township on a workday afternoon, 18% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Dafter Township
About 22% 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 Dafter Township is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dafter Township is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 708 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). 9.7% of Dafter Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dafter Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Dafter Township is 4,207th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,205 | Augusta WI | 1,483 | $54K | 18.2% | 1.3% | 11% | D |
| 4,206 | Hiram ME | 1,712 | $63K | 12.6% | 4.4% | 5% | D |
| 4,207 | Dafter Township MI | 1,333 | $66K | 16.0% | 2.1% | 2% | D |
| 4,208 | Bay Mills Township MI | 1,623 | $61K | 12.5% | 6.9% | 50% | D |
| 4,209 | Milltown WI | 1,236 | $64K | 16.4% | 2.4% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Dafter Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 18% of Dafter Township
The biggest share goes to Kinross Township (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dafter Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dafter Township | – | D | C | 15 min | $65,588 |
| Bruce Township | under 2% | B− | D− | 30 min | $85,950 |
| Superior Township | 2% | C− | C− | 19 min | $72,750 |
| Kinross Township | 11% | D− | C− | 22 min | $61,250 |
| Soo Township | 5% | B | D | 17 min | $79,107 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dafter 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 Dafter Township: questions
What is the median household income in Dafter Township?
$65,588 (±$12,000) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dafter Township?
16.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dafter Township?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dafter Township work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sault Ste. Marie (38%, 9 mi), Kinross Township (11%, 12 mi), Bay Mills Township (7%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Dafter Township walkable?
Dafter Township is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dafter Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dafter Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dafter 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.