Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Garden City works elsewhere
Employers in Garden City report 3,849 jobs, and 12,005 of its residents work somewhere. Garden City grades B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Only 5% work in Garden City; the top destination outside it is Livonia (11%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Garden City apart on work
Fewer jobs are based in Garden City than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Garden City fell from 5,562 in 2011 to 3,849 in 2021, −31%. 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 ↓
Garden City empties out on a workday
About 18,000 people are in Garden City on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 26,000 who live here: 11,000 head out to work and 3,300 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Garden City
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garden City is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #431 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Garden City’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (8.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is three years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garden City could be anywhere from C+ to B.
What Garden City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garden City, 2011 → 2021: 5,562 → 3,849. 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 Garden City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Garden City on a workday
On a workday 11,432 residents head out to work, 573 work right here, and 3,276 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Garden City on a workday afternoon, 31% 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 places Garden City commutes to
Where Garden City 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.
From Garden City, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garden City workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,530 commuters (the 10% 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.
Where in the region Garden City works
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 Garden City is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garden City is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #261 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% 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 12,835 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). 6.3% of Garden City households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Garden City’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,136th of 1,576: where Garden City ranks among U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Oakland Township MI | 20,631 | $167K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,134 | Cimarron Hills CO | 19,817 | $81K | 10.6% | 7.0% | 4% | B− |
| 1,135 | Bailey's Crossroads VA | 24,271 | $88K | 22.5% | 8.1% | 3% | B− |
| 1,136 | Garden City MI | 26,280 | $67K | 10.7% | 8.0% | 5% | B− |
| 1,137 | Romulus MI | 24,547 | $69K | 13.5% | 6.7% | 13% | B− |
| 1,138 | North Tonawanda NY | 29,806 | $67K | 12.4% | 5.8% | 13% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 35% | 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 Garden City, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Garden City compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garden City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | – | B− | B− | 27 min | $67,294 |
| Westland | 5% | C+ | B− | 25 min | $62,076 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Westland. Darker towns draw more of Garden City’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 Garden City: questions
What is the median household income in Garden City?
$67,294 (±$5,058) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garden City?
10.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garden City?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garden City work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Livonia (11%, 5 mi), Dearborn (7%, 7 mi), Detroit (7%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Garden City walkable?
Garden City is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garden City without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garden City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garden City
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.