At 0.8%, unemployment in Ferrysburg is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 21 minutes; Michigan averages 24, the U.S. 26. The two grades for Ferrysburg are A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 3% work in Ferrysburg; the top destination outside it is Grand Haven (11%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Why Ferrysburg gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ferrysburg is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #191 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Ferrysburg’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($70,400, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
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, Ferrysburg could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Who works in Ferrysburg, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,173 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 692 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Ferrysburg on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where Ferrysburg’s working residents head each day
Where Ferrysburg clocks in
11% of workers
7% 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 Ferrysburg
725 jobs are based in Ferrysburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ferrysburg, 2011 → 2021: 795 → 725. 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 Ferrysburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Ferrysburg, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ferrysburg workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,079 commuters (the 19% 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 Ferrysburg to work
About 16% 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 Ferrysburg, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ferrysburg is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #453 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Ferrysburg 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 1,335 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.6% of Ferrysburg households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ferrysburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Ferrysburg is 999th among 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 232 | Milton Township MI | 3,187 | $119K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 997 | East Hopewell Township PA | 2,555 | $109K | 4.1% | 3.7% | 2% | A− |
| 998 | Rockwood MI | 3,132 | $88K | 11.4% | 2.7% | 3% | A− |
| 999 | Ferrysburg MI | 2,955 | $70K | 8.5% | 0.8% | 3% | A− |
| 1,000 | Clever MO | 3,143 | $78K | 5.9% | 2.1% | 5% | A− |
| 1,001 | Blue Mound TX | 2,288 | $66K | 6.7% | 3.3% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Ferrysburg, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Bordering towns draw 18% of Ferrysburg’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ferrysburg workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferrysburg | – | A− | C− | 21 min | $70,400 |
| Spring Lake Township | 7% | A | C | 23 min | $97,451 |
| Spring Lake | under 3% | A− | A− | 23 min | $88,365 |
| Grand Haven | 11% | B | A | 17 min | $60,669 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Grand Haven. Darker towns draw more of Ferrysburg’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 Ferrysburg: questions
What is the median household income in Ferrysburg?
$70,400 (±$23,515) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ferrysburg?
8.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ferrysburg?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ferrysburg work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Haven (11%, 2 mi), Grand Rapids (8%, 30 mi), Muskegon (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Ferrysburg walkable?
Ferrysburg is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ferrysburg without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ferrysburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ferrysburg
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.