Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Gladstone are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers (Michigan 14%). Below the poverty line: 14.1% of residents, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. For jobs and income Gladstone is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Gladstone in brief
Gladstone and Escanaba trade workers both ways
Escanaba is the top workplace for Gladstone residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Gladstone come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Gladstone residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Gladstone are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker, and quicker than any town next door (22 to 27 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Few Gladstone workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Where Gladstone’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Gladstone’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
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, Gladstone could be anywhere from D to B−.
35% of working residents work in Escanaba
Where Gladstone clocks in
35% of workers
6% 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 commute from Gladstone, by distance
About 23% 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.
Gladstone’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gladstone workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,049 commuters (the 4% 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.
Gladstone by day and by night
On a workday 1,583 residents head out to work, 300 work right here, and 982 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Gladstone on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Inside Gladstone’s 1,282 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gladstone, 2011 → 2021: 1,355 → 1,282. 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 Gladstone’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Gladstone
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,130 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). 7.1% of Gladstone households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gladstone’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000, Gladstone ranks 2,990th of 3,696 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,988 | Winfield AL | 4,842 | $50K | 12.5% | 3.9% | 23% | C− |
| 2,989 | Roanoke AL | 5,440 | $47K | 12.5% | 3.4% | 30% | C− |
| 2,990 | Gladstone MI | 5,189 | $55K | 14.1% | 3.9% | 16% | C− |
| 2,991 | Marlow Heights MD | 5,456 | $56K | 31.5% | 15.1% | 2% | C− |
| 2,992 | Edenton NC | 4,546 | $38K | 30.0% | 0.0% | 33% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Gladstone, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Around Gladstone: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Escanaba Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gladstone workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gladstone | – | C− | A− | 18 min | $54,970 |
| Escanaba Township | 5% | B | C+ | 25 min | $81,250 |
| Brampton Township | under 1% | C | D | 22 min | $80,313 |
| Ensign Township | under 1% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Ensign Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gladstone’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 Gladstone: questions
What is the median household income in Gladstone?
$54,970 (±$9,990) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gladstone?
14.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gladstone?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gladstone work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Escanaba (35%, 8 mi), Wells Township (9%, 8 mi), Marquette (6%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Gladstone walkable?
Gladstone is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gladstone without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gladstone, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gladstone
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.