Elk Township has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For 4% of workers, the job is at home (Michigan 14%). Employers in Elk Township report 207 jobs, and 527 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Elk Township are C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Income, poverty and work: Elk Township’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Elk Township is better than 19% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Elk Township’s grade up (11.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (7.1%) is left out: Elk 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 three years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Elk Township could be anywhere from D to C+.
The daily flow of workers through Elk Township
On a workday 510 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 190 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Elk Township on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
10% of working residents work in Sandusky
Where Elk Township clocks in
10% 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.
The kinds of work in Elk Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elk Township, 2011 → 2021: 166 → 207. 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 Elk Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Elk Township takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elk Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 614 commuters (the 5% 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.
Miles to work from Elk Township
About 24% 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.
Getting around Elk Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elk Township is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, the same share as 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 643 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). 3.6% of Elk Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elk Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Elk Township is 4,478th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 166 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,476 | Biglerville PA | 1,240 | $52K | 21.8% | 10.2% | 2% | C− |
| 4,477 | Falls Creek PA | 1,002 | $51K | 15.6% | 5.3% | 5% | C− |
| 4,478 | Elk Township MI | 1,498 | $62K | 11.2% | 7.1% | 3% | C− |
| 4,479 | Van Etten NY | 1,482 | $62K | 12.5% | 3.6% | 4% | C− |
| 4,480 | Philadelphia NY | 1,937 | $76K | 18.9% | 2.8% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Elk Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Elk Township and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Speaker Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elk Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Township | – | C− | C+ | 26 min | $62,266 |
| Buel Township | under 2% | D− | C− | 25 min | $59,688 |
| Speaker Township | 3% | D | C− | 35 min | $54,074 |
| Flynn Township | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Watertown Township | under 2% | B− | C− | 25 min | $72,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Flynn Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elk 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 Elk Township: questions
What is the median household income in Elk Township?
$62,266 (±$10,725) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elk Township?
11.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elk Township?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elk Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sandusky (10%, 10 mi), Croswell (9%, 11 mi), Port Huron (5%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Elk Township walkable?
Elk Township is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elk Township 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 Elk Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elk 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.