Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Dearborn Heights has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income C: better than 29% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #552 of 701 in Michigan.
Walkability B: more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns · #175 of 701 in Michigan.
Household incomes here are lower than in 73% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 24 minutes each way (Michigan 24, U.S. 26). Only 6% work in Dearborn Heights; the top destination outside it is Detroit (14%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Dearborn Heights
A lot of Dearborn Heights works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Dearborn Heights: Dearborn (14%), Detroit (14%) and Taylor (3%). Next door ↓
Many jobs in Dearborn Heights pay little
27% of the jobs based in Dearborn Heights pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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.
What’s behind Dearborn Heights’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dearborn Heights is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #552 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Dearborn Heights’ grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
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, Dearborn Heights could be anywhere from C− to C+.
What the 8,344 jobs in Dearborn Heights are
8,344 jobs are based in Dearborn Heights. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Dearborn Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dearborn Heights, 2011 → 2021: 8,386 → 8,344. 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.
Dearborn Heights quiets down on a workday
On a workday 20,664 residents head out to work, 1,325 work right here, and 7,019 people come in from elsewhere.
About 47,000 people are in Dearborn Heights on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.38 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.
14% of working residents work in Detroit
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Dearborn Heights clocks in
14% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 24 minutes each way, about the MI average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dearborn Heights workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,869 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Dearborn Heights commutes less than 10 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.
Most trips from Dearborn Heights start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dearborn Heights is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #175 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% of 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 24,973 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 17% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.0% of Dearborn Heights households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Dearborn Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Dearborn Heights is 654th of 746 U.S. towns of 42,000 to 82,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Dearborn Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Bloomfield Township MI | 43,904 | $163K | 4.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Meridian Township MI | 44,869 | $87K | 13.1% | 3.6% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Rochester Hills MI | 77,539 | $121K | 5.2% | 4.1% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 652 | Hilo HI | 50,404 | $82K | 14.5% | 6.9% | 60% | C |
| 653 | Kalamazoo MI | 72,683 | $52K | 24.9% | 6.9% | 33% | C |
| 654 | Dearborn Heights MI | 60,664 | $60K | 21.9% | 7.9% | 6% | C |
| 655 | Cleveland TN | 51,172 | $59K | 16.7% | 6.0% | 39% | C |
| 656 | North Little Rock AR | 65,120 | $53K | 20.3% | 5.9% | 22% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 746 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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.
31% of Dearborn Heights works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Dearborn (14%). Darker towns draw more of Dearborn Heights’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dearborn Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dearborn Heights | – | C | B | 24 min | $60,391 |
| Dearborn | 14% | C | A− | 22 min | $65,324 |
| Detroit | 14% | C− | A+ | 25 min | $39,938 |
| Allen Park | under 3% | B+ | C+ | 24 min | $81,655 |
| Inkster | under 3% | D | B+ | 27 min | $39,252 |
| Redford Township | under 3% | B− | B | 25 min | $69,414 |
| Westland | under 3% | C+ | B− | 25 min | $62,076 |
| Taylor | 3% | C | B | 22 min | $61,081 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Dearborn Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Dearborn Heights?
$60,391 (±$3,758) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dearborn Heights?
21.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dearborn Heights?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dearborn Heights work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (14%, 10 mi), Dearborn (14%, 4 mi), Livonia (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Dearborn Heights walkable?
Dearborn Heights is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dearborn Heights without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dearborn Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dearborn Heights
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.