Photo: Dan Roman · CC BY-SA 4.0Flushing has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Flushing report 1,449 jobs, against 3,271 working residents. The two grades for Flushing are B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 5% stay in Flushing for work; outside it, Flint is the main destination (14%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Flushing
The better-paid jobs are outside Flushing
58% of Flushing residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 31% of the jobs based in Flushing pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Flushing than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Flushing fell from 2,253 in 2011 to 1,449 in 2021, −36%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
43% of the jobs in Flushing are in trade, transport and utilities, against 21% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Flushing pay little
26% of the jobs based in Flushing pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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.
How Flushing earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Flushing is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #380 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate holds Flushing’s grade up (7.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income 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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Flushing could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The kinds of work in Flushing
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Flushing, 2011 → 2021: 2,253 → 1,449. 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 Flushing’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Flushing: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,096 residents head out to work, 175 work right here, and 1,274 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,400 people are in Flushing 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 the trip to work from Flushing ends
Where Flushing clocks in
5% 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.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Flushing
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Flushing workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,108 commuters (the 13% 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.
Half of Flushing commutes less than 19 miles
About 22% 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 Flushing, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Flushing is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #338 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,569 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). 3.9% of Flushing households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Flushing’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Flushing ranks: 1,664th of 3,007 U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,662 | Harrison Township OH | 10,681 | $64K | 9.2% | 4.6% | 7% | B− |
| 1,663 | Freeport FL | 7,543 | $92K | 7.4% | 3.0% | 7% | B− |
| 1,664 | Flushing MI | 8,175 | $80K | 7.0% | 6.7% | 5% | B− |
| 1,665 | Sheffield Lake OH | 8,971 | $70K | 14.8% | 3.6% | 2% | B− |
| 1,666 | Kimball Township MI | 9,652 | $71K | 9.2% | 3.4% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,007 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Flushing, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door to Flushing
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Flushing workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flushing | – | B− | C+ | 24 min | $80,025 |
| Flushing Township | under 2% | B− | D− | 29 min | $85,292 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Flushing’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 Flushing: questions
What is the median household income in Flushing?
$80,025 (±$8,694) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Flushing?
7.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Flushing?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Flushing work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Flint (14%, 8 mi), Flint Township (7%, 6 mi), Grand Blanc Township (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Flushing walkable?
Flushing is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Flushing without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Flushing, from the people who make the trip.
More of Flushing
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.