Fairplain Township has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
There are 140 jobs in Fairplain Township for 689 working residents. The two grades for Fairplain Township are D for jobs and income and D for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Fairplain Township in brief
The four measures behind Fairplain Township’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Fairplain Township is better than 9% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Fairplain Township’s grade.
Unemployment (1.4%) is left out: Fairplain 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 two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Fairplain Township could be anywhere from D− to C.
A workday in Fairplain Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 680 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 131 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Fairplain Township on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
14% of working residents work in Greenville
Where Fairplain Township clocks in
14% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 46% of the jobs in Fairplain Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairplain Township, 2011 → 2021: 123 → 140. 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 Fairplain Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes to work from Fairplain Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairplain Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 794 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 distance from Fairplain Township to work
About 17% 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.
In Fairplain Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairplain Township is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 842 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). 5.3% of Fairplain Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairplain Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,921 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Fairplain Township comes 5,042nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 148 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 223 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,040 | Chelsea OK | 1,999 | $51K | 19.1% | 10.7% | 16% | D |
| 5,041 | Easton ME | 1,312 | $53K | 15.1% | 5.7% | 12% | D |
| 5,042 | Fairplain Township MI | 1,892 | $56K | 17.9% | 1.4% | 1% | D |
| 5,043 | Bolivar NY | 1,985 | $59K | 17.3% | 5.9% | 10% | D |
| 5,044 | Windsor Township OH | 1,879 | $56K | 13.6% | 2.2% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Fairplain Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Fairplain Township compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Eureka Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairplain Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairplain Township | – | D | D | 27 min | $56,406 |
| Sidney Township | under 2% | D | D | 26 min | $60,050 |
| Eureka Township | 3% | A− | C | 27 min | $77,266 |
| Orleans Township | under 2% | C+ | D | 28 min | $62,978 |
| Bushnell Township | under 2% | C− | D | 34 min | $65,500 |
| Montcalm Township | under 2% | C | D− | 25 min | $71,293 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fairplain 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 Fairplain Township: questions
What is the median household income in Fairplain Township?
$56,406 (±$8,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairplain Township?
17.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairplain Township?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairplain Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (14%, 6 mi), Grand Rapids (9%, 30 mi), Stanton (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Fairplain Township walkable?
Fairplain Township is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairplain Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairplain Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairplain 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.