Photo: Lrgjr72 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Franklin are higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 23% of workers, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. Below the poverty line: 2.8% of residents, next to 13.2% across Michigan. Jobs and income earn Franklin A+; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Franklin, in a few figures
Franklin has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Franklin went from 359 in 2011 to 574 in 2021, +60%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Franklin works from home
23% of Franklin workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Franklin
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Franklin is among the top U.S. towns, #4 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Franklin’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment 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 firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Franklin stays A+.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Franklin
574 jobs are based in Franklin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Franklin, 2011 → 2021: 359 → 574. 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 Franklin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Franklin takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Franklin workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 935 commuters (the 23% 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.
Franklin by day and by night
On a workday 1,214 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 563 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Franklin on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.47 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.
12% of working residents work in Detroit
Where Franklin clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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 distance from Franklin to work
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 Franklin is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Franklin is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #251 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Franklin 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 1,211 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). 0.0% of Franklin households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Franklin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,562 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200, Franklin comes 21st 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Brown Station MD | 3,451 | $169K | 3.3% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| 20 | Deer Park IL | 3,647 | $174K | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 21 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 22 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 23 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 226 | Heath Township MI | 4,017 | $105K | 1.3% | 0.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 238 | Milton Township MI | 3,187 | $119K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | 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 Franklin, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Bordering towns draw 19% of Franklin’s workers
The biggest share goes to Southfield Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Franklin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | – | A+ | B− | 26 min | $194,079 |
| Southfield Township | 8% | A+ | B− | 23 min | $184,531 |
| Southfield | 8% | B− | A− | 24 min | $68,166 |
| Bloomfield Township | 3% | A | B− | 24 min | $162,788 |
| Bingham Farms | under 3% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $244,618 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Franklin’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 Franklin: questions
What is the median household income in Franklin?
$194,079 (±$33,148) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Franklin?
2.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Franklin?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Franklin work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (12%, 14 mi), Southfield (8%, 4 mi), Southfield Township (8%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Franklin walkable?
Franklin is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Franklin without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Franklin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Franklin
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.