Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Escanaba are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
About half stay in Escanaba for work; outside it, Wells Township is the main destination (7%, 5 miles). The poverty rate is 17.7%, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. Escanaba grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Escanaba, in brief
Commutes from Escanaba are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
Escanaba is where the jobs are
Escanaba has 7,521 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Escanaba workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Escanaba’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 23% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
The four measures behind Escanaba’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Escanaba is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #646 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Escanaba’s grade up (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($45,369, U.S. $80,734).
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, Escanaba could be anywhere from D to C.
Getting to work from Escanaba takes about 11 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Escanaba workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,575 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.
In and out of Escanaba on a workday
On a workday 2,337 residents head out to work, 2,183 work right here, and 5,338 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Escanaba on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
What the 7,521 jobs in Escanaba are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Escanaba, 2011 → 2021: 8,825 → 7,521. 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 Escanaba’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Escanaba’s workers come from
Where Escanaba clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
Half of Escanaba commutes less than 3 miles
About 25% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Escanaba
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Escanaba is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #55 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Escanaba 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 4,871 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). 14.5% of Escanaba households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Escanaba’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000, and where Escanaba sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,176 | Brooksville FL | 10,145 | $55K | 19.7% | 7.3% | 15% | D |
| 2,177 | Florence OR | 9,468 | $53K | 10.3% | 6.6% | 42% | D |
| 2,178 | Escanaba MI | 12,257 | $45K | 17.7% | 5.2% | 48% | D |
| 2,179 | Independence Township MO | 11,792 | $56K | 18.4% | 5.3% | 37% | D |
| 2,180 | Fort Madison IA | 9,935 | $51K | 15.0% | 7.3% | 37% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Escanaba, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Around Escanaba: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Escanaba workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Escanaba | – | D | A− | 11 min | $45,369 |
| Wells Township | 7% | C+ | D | 15 min | $72,039 |
| Ford River Township | under 1% | C | D− | 21 min | $69,878 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wells Township. Darker towns draw more of Escanaba’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 Escanaba: questions
What is the median household income in Escanaba?
$45,369 (±$2,562) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Escanaba?
17.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Escanaba?
11 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Escanaba work?
48% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wells Township (7%, 5 mi), Marquette (4%, 58 mi), Gladstone (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Escanaba walkable?
Escanaba is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Escanaba without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Escanaba, from the people who make the trip.
More of Escanaba
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.