Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Dexter (2.1%) than in 83% of U.S. towns
Dexter grades A+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Dexter is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. Home is the office for 27% of workers, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Dexter in brief
A lot of Dexter works from home
27% of Dexter workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
31% of Dexter works in Ann Arbor
621 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Ann Arbor, 8.6 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Dexter itself. The commute map ↓
Dexter makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Dexter are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Dexter residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. 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.
Inside Dexter’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dexter is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #14 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate is its strongest input (0.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
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, Dexter could be anywhere from A to A+.
Time on the road from Dexter: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dexter workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,734 commuters (the 27% 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.
31% of working residents work in Ann Arbor
Where Dexter clocks in
31% of workers
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.
In Dexter, 39% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
2,606 jobs are based in Dexter.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dexter, 2011 → 2021: 2,406 → 2,606. 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 Dexter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Dexter, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,845 residents head out to work, 183 work right here, and 2,423 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Dexter on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from Dexter
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 Dexter start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dexter is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #113 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Dexter 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 2,372 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.6% of Dexter households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dexter’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Dexter is 143rd among 4,000 U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 141 | Wadsworth Township OH | 4,483 | $107K | 2.5% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 142 | Sykesville MD | 4,602 | $140K | 3.1% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 143 | Dexter MI | 4,461 | $107K | 0.8% | 2.1% | 9% | A+ |
| 144 | Brookline NH | 5,858 | $171K | 0.6% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| 145 | Sherwood OH | 3,808 | $126K | 4.2% | 1.4% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Dexter, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Dexter and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Scio Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dexter workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dexter | – | A+ | B+ | 24 min | $106,637 |
| Scio Township | 6% | A | B | 22 min | $129,816 |
| Webster Township | under 2% | A+ | C | 27 min | $155,104 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dexter’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 Dexter: questions
What is the median household income in Dexter?
$106,637 (±$13,924) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dexter?
0.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dexter?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dexter work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ann Arbor (31%, 9 mi), Scio Township (6%, 3 mi), Pittsfield Township (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Dexter walkable?
Dexter is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dexter without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dexter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dexter
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.