Francis Metallic Surfboat · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 4.0Work and commuting in Douglas
Working residents average 17 minutes each way, where Michigan has 24 and the U.S. 26. Douglas grades A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in ten stay in Douglas for work; outside it, Holland is the main destination (13%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Douglas at work: what stands out
Commutes from Douglas are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Douglas
57% of Douglas residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Douglas pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Douglas’ workforce skews older
38% of Douglas’ working residents are 55 or older. 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 507 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Douglas earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Douglas is better than 78% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.4%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($81,627, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (1.0%) is left out: Douglas’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, Douglas could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Douglas’ commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Douglas workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 472 commuters (the 18% 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.
What work there is in Douglas: 580 jobs
580 jobs are based in Douglas.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Douglas, 2011 → 2021: 502 → 580. 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 Douglas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Douglas, and who commutes in
On a workday 459 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 532 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.14 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.
Where the trip to work from Douglas ends
Where Douglas clocks in
13% 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.
How far Douglas’ workers travel
About 18% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Douglas
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Douglas is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Douglas 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 576 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). 4.2% of Douglas households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Douglas’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Douglas is 661st among 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 187 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 659 | Bridgeton Township PA | 1,228 | $82K | 5.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A− |
| 660 | Brooklyn WI | 1,841 | $108K | 3.8% | 1.1% | 3% | A− |
| 661 | Douglas MI | 1,411 | $82K | 4.4% | 1.0% | 9% | A− |
| 662 | Le Sauk Township MN | 1,515 | $94K | 6.4% | 1.3% | 1% | A− |
| 663 | Acoma Township MN | 1,135 | $126K | 2.6% | 4.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Douglas, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Douglas
The biggest share goes to Saugatuck (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Douglas workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas | – | A− | A− | 17 min | $81,627 |
| Saugatuck Township | 4% | A | B | 23 min | $93,618 |
| Saugatuck | 5% | — | — | 41 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Saugatuck: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Douglas’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 Douglas: questions
What is the median household income in Douglas?
$81,627 (±$6,499) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Douglas?
4.4%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Douglas?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Douglas work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Holland (13%, 10 mi), Holland Township (7%, 14 mi), Grand Rapids (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Douglas walkable?
Douglas is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Douglas without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Douglas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Douglas
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.