Alexander McClew Farm House · Photo: Matthew Lampe · Public domainForest Township has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 4% work in Forest Township itself; outside it, Flint draws the most (9%, 13 miles). There are 332 jobs in Forest Township; 1,768 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Forest Township are B for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Forest Township stands out on work
Forest Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Forest Township is a place people come home to
There are 332 jobs based in Forest Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Forest Township has about 2,900 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Many jobs in Forest Township pay little
26% of the jobs based in Forest Township 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.
Income, poverty and work: Forest Township’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forest Township is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #354 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate holds Forest Township’s grade up (6.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 40% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
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, Forest Township could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
A commute of about 34 minutes in Forest Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,769 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.
How many people are in Forest Township by day
On a workday 1,691 residents head out to work, 77 work right here, and 255 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Forest Township on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
The kinds of work in Forest Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest Township, 2011 → 2021: 214 → 332. 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 Forest Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Forest Township ends
Where Forest Township clocks in
Lines 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Forest Township
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.
Getting around Forest Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forest Township is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns, #494 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,890 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). 2.3% of Forest Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Forest Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Forest Township places 1,934th of 4,136 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,932 | Mary Esther FL | 4,093 | $77K | 6.3% | 5.6% | 2% | B |
| 1,933 | West Brookfield MA | 3,947 | $96K | 8.5% | 5.8% | 10% | B |
| 1,934 | Forest Township MI | 4,354 | $71K | 6.4% | 3.7% | 4% | B |
| 1,935 | Birch Run Township MI | 5,853 | $82K | 10.3% | 4.5% | 9% | B |
| 1,936 | Shaw Heights CO | 5,565 | $86K | 12.3% | 6.8% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,136 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Forest Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Forest Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forest Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Township | – | B | C− | 34 min | $71,250 |
| Thetford Township | under 3% | C | D | 32 min | $73,984 |
| Marathon Township | under 3% | C− | D | 37 min | $65,511 |
| Richfield Township | under 3% | C+ | C− | 31 min | $82,676 |
| Millington Township | under 3% | C+ | C | 29 min | $65,737 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Forest 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 Forest Township: questions
What is the median household income in Forest Township?
$71,250 (±$6,567) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest Township?
6.4%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest Township?
34 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Flint (9%, 13 mi), Flint Township (5%, 17 mi), Burton (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Forest Township walkable?
Forest Township is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forest Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest 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.