Photo: Crisco 1492 · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.6 jobs in Frankenmuth for every working resident, and 4,742 people commute in
Employers in Frankenmuth report 5,415 jobs, and 2,045 of its residents work somewhere. Frankenmuth grades B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in three work in Frankenmuth; the top destination outside it is Saginaw (10%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Frankenmuth stands out on work
Frankenmuth is where the jobs are
Frankenmuth has 5,415 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,600 people are in town, 65% more than the 5,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Many jobs in Frankenmuth pay little
28% of the jobs based in Frankenmuth pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 32% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
Where Frankenmuth’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Frankenmuth is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #261 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate holds Frankenmuth’s grade up (4.9%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, 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, Frankenmuth could be anywhere from C+ to A.
In and out of Frankenmuth on a workday
On a workday 1,372 residents head out to work and 673 work right here.
About 8,600 people are in Frankenmuth on a workday afternoon, 65% more than live here.
2.6 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.
The kinds of work in Frankenmuth
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Frankenmuth, 2011 → 2021: 4,818 → 5,415. 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 Frankenmuth’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Frankenmuth live
Where Frankenmuth clocks in
10% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
How long Frankenmuth spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Frankenmuth workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,933 commuters (the 16% 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 miles Frankenmuth commutes
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.
The commute in Frankenmuth is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Frankenmuth is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #148 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Frankenmuth 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 2,297 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). 7.6% of Frankenmuth households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Frankenmuth’s commuters take a bus or train.
Frankenmuth is 1,346th of 3,696 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,344 | Eldorado at Santa Fe NM | 5,619 | $107K | 8.4% | 2.1% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,345 | Nevada IA | 6,974 | $75K | 9.9% | 2.0% | 23% | B+ |
| 1,346 | Frankenmuth MI | 5,197 | $85K | 4.9% | 4.7% | 33% | B+ |
| 1,347 | Highland Falls NY | 3,631 | $111K | 7.2% | 6.6% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,348 | Hamburg PA | 4,551 | $55K | 2.4% | 3.6% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | 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 Frankenmuth, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Frankenmuth and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Frankenmuth workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankenmuth | – | B+ | B+ | 21 min | $85,433 |
| Frankenmuth Township | under 2% | A | B− | 19 min | $102,188 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Frankenmuth’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 Frankenmuth: questions
What is the median household income in Frankenmuth?
$85,433 (±$16,843) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Frankenmuth?
4.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Frankenmuth?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Frankenmuth work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Saginaw (10%, 12 mi), Saginaw Township (5%, 16 mi), Midland (3%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Frankenmuth walkable?
Frankenmuth is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Frankenmuth without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Frankenmuth, from the people who make the trip.
More of Frankenmuth
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.