Most of Elsie commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Only 4% work in Elsie itself; outside it, St. Johns draws the most (11%, 10 miles). Elsie has 166 jobs; 378 of its residents have a job. A typical one-way commute lasts 31 minutes, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Elsie, in brief
From Elsie, about 31 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elsie workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 328 commuters (the 9% 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.
Who works in Elsie, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 364 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 152 people come in from elsewhere.
About 740 people are in Elsie on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Where Elsie’s working residents head each day
Where Elsie clocks in
11% of workers
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.
In Elsie, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elsie, 2011 → 2021: 64 → 166. 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 Elsie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Elsie
About 19% 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.
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 Elsie: questions
What is the median household income in Elsie?
$59,318 (±$7,566) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elsie?
11.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elsie?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elsie work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Johns (11%, 10 mi), Duplain Township (11%, 2 mi), Lansing (10%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Elsie without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elsie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elsie
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.