With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Dryden works elsewhere
The two grades for Dryden are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 63 jobs are based in Dryden, against 448 working residents. Hardly any stay in Dryden for work; outside it, Auburn Hills is the main destination (6%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Dryden at work: what stands out
Dryden is a place people come home to
There are 63 jobs based in Dryden, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Dryden has about 650 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Dryden workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical 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 448 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Dryden
On income, poverty and job access, Dryden is better than 64% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Dryden’s grade up (4.6%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($70,352, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (7.7%) is left out: Dryden’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, Dryden could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The daily commute in and out of Dryden
On a workday 444 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 59 people come in from elsewhere.
About 650 people are in Dryden on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of Michigan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dryden workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 407 commuters (the 6% 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.
The places Dryden commutes to
Where Dryden clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
Dryden is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dryden, 2011 → 2021: 66 → 63. 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 Dryden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Dryden
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.
In Dryden, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dryden is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 434 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). 1.7% of Dryden households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dryden’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Dryden is 641st of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | Petersburg MI | 1,152 | $83K | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Freedom Township MI | 1,298 | $113K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 639 | Pheasant Run OH | 1,258 | $65K | 4.1% | 5.6% | 0% | B |
| 640 | Rushmere VA | 1,033 | $74K | 2.6% | 4.8% | <1% | B |
| 641 | Dryden MI | 1,037 | $70K | 4.6% | 7.7% | 1% | B |
| 642 | Dover ID | 1,164 | $100K | 4.7% | 1.8% | 1% | B |
| 643 | Homer Township MN | 1,310 | $94K | 5.3% | 0.8% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Dryden, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Dryden: questions
What is the median household income in Dryden?
$70,352 (±$8,878) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dryden?
4.6%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dryden?
34 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dryden work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Auburn Hills (6%, 20 mi), Sterling Heights (6%, 26 mi), Almont Township (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Dryden walkable?
Dryden is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dryden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dryden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dryden
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.